Mechanics I: Spirometry and Pulmonary Function Tests- Johnson Flashcards
What is spirometry?
- measure lung capacity/volume
- has to be able to be expelled from the lung to be measured by lung spirometry
- an early diagnostic tool for COPD
What is the leading cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (combination of emphysema and bronchitis)?
SMOKING
What are the 4 different types of lung volume?
- tidal volume
- inspiratory reserve volume
- expiratory reserve volume
- residual volume
What is tidal volume?
- the amount of air that goes into and out of the lungs at a single breath; typically 500 mL
- varies with sex, age, body structure
Air that moves into lung with each quiet inspiration, typically 500 mL
What is inspiratory reserve volume?
- the amount of breath that you take in above the tidal volume to maximally inspire
- you require more muscle than just your diaphragm
Air that can still be breathed in after normal inspiration
What is expiratory reserve volume?
at the end expiration, the amount of air we can force out calling on the abdominal muscles
Air that can still be breathed out after normal expiration
What is residual volume?
the amount of air left over after forced expiration
Air in lung after maximal expiration; RV and any lung capacity that includes RV cannot be measured by spirometry
What are the 4 different lung capacities?
Remember capacities are the sum of 2 or more physiological lung volumes.
- inspiratory capacity
- vital capacity
- functional residual capacity
- total lung capacity
What is inspiratory capacity?
- the amount of air you can take in
- tidal volume plus the inspiratory reserve volume
What is vital capacity?
-the amount of air that can be moved into and out of lung on maximum effort (followed by maximum expiration or maximum inspiration)
TV plus IRV plus ERV (every volume but RV)
Maximum volume of gas that can be expired
after a maximal inspiration
What is functional reserve capacity?
comprised of expiratory reserve volume and residual volume
Volume of gas in lungs after normal expiration
What is total lung capacity?
- vital capacity plus residual volume OR
- all four volumes summed together
What is dead space volume? How is it different from residual volume?
the amount of air that remains in the conducting airway
-does not participate in gas exchange nor does it reach the alveoli (residual volume is in the alveoli)
What constitutes the FRC? What begins at FRC?
- FRC is the combination of residual volume and expiratory reserve volume
- inspiration
this is the amount of air that you have in your lungs at the onset of diaphragmatic contraction waiting for pressure change to occur so that tidal volume will come in; if you decide to inspire above tidal volume you can taking in the inspiratory reserve volume leading to total lung capacity
Simple water-seal spirometer vs. conventional
a drum rotates with a pen that is recording fluctuations in the moving drum; when a person breathes into the spirometer air will fill the chambers
the floating drum is suspended in water and when person breathes in and out, air will fill the chamber getting inspiration and expiration as you are breathing into the machine
this will be detected on the paper for you to calculate lung volumes
Compare plethysmography (body box) with helium dilution.
- these two techniques produce the same results in normal subjects but dissimilar results in patients with obstructive lung disease due to trapped air as a result of premature airway closure
- both measure FRC
What is plethysmography?
- body box measures the amount of AIR REMAINING in the lungs after normal exhalation including gas that gets trapped during premature airway closure; the subject breathes in an airtight box (pt should have a nose piece so there is no escaping of air; air will only go through the mouthpiece into the spirometer)
- trapped air distorts the actual volume and FRC volume would appear to be LARGER
- Boyle’s law indicates that the product of pressure and volume are constant (at a constant temperature)
- pressure transducers detect pressure inside the box and inside the mouth so you can measure volume changes in lung during expiration and inspiration
What is helium dilution technique?
- is used to calculate the FRC
- you cannot expire RV into spirometer so you need to use a known conc of helium
- Known concentration of helium gas, [He] is added to spirometer of a known volume.
- At FRC, the subject is then connected to box; an unknown volume (FRC in the lungs) will be measured.
- [He] plateaus. Concentration in spirometry will be equal to that in the lungs of the subject.
- Results in a new concentration of the inert gas [He] which is measured.
- Subsequently, the change in concentration of the inert gas [He] is used to determine the FRC volume in which the inert gas has been distributed.NOTE: Less accurate measurement than box body; trapped gas due to disease state would result in larger measurement of FRC by body box than the Helium dilution technique (under estimate FRC in OPD patients). Helium equilibration in markedly obstructed airways may not have occurred during the test (long time constant airways).
Why do you to use helium dilution to measure FRC? What is the FRC comprised of?
- FRC is the residual volume and the expiration residual volume which is the one that can be entered into a spirometer
- have to have a known volume of helium
- subject has on a nose piece and they come to a normal expiratory level (not forced) and then the mouthpiece is opened and you allow the gas from the spirometer containing the helium to enter into and equilibrate with the air that is in the lungs—this will be the FRC
- the dilution of the gas from the original concentration will give you the volume that was required to produce the new concentration that is measured; as a result you can calculate the volume in the lung associated with FRC
the person NORMALLY exhales to FRC (if forced you’re measuring RV)
How much nitrogen is in the air?
70-80% percent
What is the nitrogen washout technique?
in this technique you are connected to the FRC
at the start of the lung the subject has 80% of nitrogen in the lungs
then the subject breathes 100% oxygen; the subject does this for a period of time and then you can figure out the FRC
-the concentration of nitrogen in the exhaled gas volume is collected, measured and FRC is calculated
Compare the nitrogen washout in normal vs. abnormal subjects with pulmonary disease
- both have changes in the nitrogen washout
- the relationship of washout is normally linear on a semilog plot unless uneven ventilation occurs in some lung regions (in abnormal subjects with pulmonary disease)
What is the forced vital capacity maneuver?
- a pulmonary function test that can give you indication towards obstructive, and restrictive types of pulmonary disease and that the lung is functioning normally
- person can be sitting or standing
- this is an effort dependent test!; must be repeated a few times to obtain the best reproducible results
- volume of gas vs time graph in which forced expiratory volume in 1 sec is measured which is similar to the forced vital capacity taking a ratio or the two
Vital capacity is the maximum of air that can be inspired or expired in one effort when you are forcefully; it is the maximum volume of gas that can be expired after a maximal inspiration
Compare the ratio of forced expiratory volume in 1 sec to forced vital capacity in normal, obstructive, and restrictive pulmonary subjects.
normal: 80%
obstructive: less than 80% as something is impeding air flow; main issue is time==slow rate
restrictive: the total amount of air you can move in and out of lungs is greatly reduced although the ratio may be normal or greater than 80%===more of a volume issue