Respiratory Flashcards
Define minute volume?
5 litres of air a minute moved by the respiratory pump
Define Transpulmonary pressure (Ptp)?
difference in pressure between the inside and
outside of the lung (alveolar pressure - intrapleural pressure)
Define Intrapleural pressure (Pip)?
the pressure in the pleural space, also known as
intrathoracic pressure
Define Alveolar pressure (Palv)?
Air pressure in pulmonary alveoli
Describe the process of inspiration?
Impulses stimulating contraction are transmitted to the diaphragm via the phrenic
nerve which arises form C3,4 & 5
- The diaphragm contracts causing its dome to move downwards - thereby enlarging the thorax (increasing its volume)
- Simultaneously, activation of the motor neurones in the intercostal nerves to the EXTERNAL intercostal muscles, causes them to contract - resulting in an upward and outward movement of the ribs and a further increase in thoracic volume
- As the thorax expands the intrapleural pressure is being lowered and the transpulmonary pressure is becoming more positive - resulting in lung
expansion since the force acting to expand the lungs (transpulmonary pressure) is becoming greater than that of the elastic recoil exerted by the lungs - The lung expansion results in the alveolar pressure becoming negative
- This results in an inward airflow
- At the end of inspiration, the chest wall is no longer expanding but has yet to start passive recoil, since lung size is not changing and the glottis is open at this point
- alveolar pressure = atmospheric pressure, since the elastic recoil of the lungs has been balanced by the transpulmonary pressure - resulting in no airflow
Describe the process of expiration?
1At the end of inspiration, the motor neurones to the diaphragm and external intercostal muscles decrease their firing so these muscles can relax - the
diaphragm ascends thereby decreasing thoracic volume
2
As they relax, the lungs and chest walls start to passively collapse due to elastic recoil - this is because the muscle relaxation causes the intrapleural pressure to increase, thereby decreasing the transpulmonary pressure (becomes more negative), this results in the transpulmonary pressure acting to expand the lungs
becoming less than the elastic recoil acting to reduce the lungs eventually resulting in the lungs passively collapsing
3
As the lungs become smaller, air in the alveoli becomes temporarily compressed resulting in an increase in alveolar pressure i.e it becomes more positive and exceeds atmospheric pressure resulting in air flowing outwards
• Thus it can be seen that EXPIRATION AT REST is PASSIVE relying only on the relaxation of the external intercostal muscles and diaphragm and the elastic
recoil of the lungs
Describe the process of forced expiration?
- On top of the actions mentioned in expiration at rest, the INTERNAL intercostal muscles also contract as do the abdominal muscles
- This results in the ribs moving downwards and inwards - actively decreasing thoracic volume, and the abdominal muscle contraction results in an increase in
intra-abdominal pressure - thereby forcing the relaxed diaphragm further up into the thorax - further decreasing thoracic volume - Resulting in a greater than normal volume of air being expired
Which airway has the highest resistance?
When air is breathed in or out there is some resistance generated by the airways. The airway with the GREATEST RESISTANCE is the TRACHEA - this is
because although the bronchioles for examples are small, and thus you’d think they’d offer the most resistance, in fact if you add them all up they provide much more surface area meaning they will provide less RESISTANCE than the trachea which has a much smaller surface area than ALL the bronchioles meaning it will provide the MOST RESISTANCE
Define Dead Space?
Dead space: the volume of air not contributing to ventilation ( anatomically theres is
around 150mls of this and in the alveolar there is around 25mls thus in the lungs in
total there is 175mls of dead space in total)
• Occurs in between the alveoli & capillaries
What is the total combined area for gas exchange?
the total combined area for gas exchange is 40-100m2
How many layers must O2 diffuse through?
When O2 diffuses from the alveoli into the pulmonary capillaries & CO2 diffuses
from the pulmonary capillaries into the alveoli the gases must diffuse through 7
layers [we will look at it from O2 perspective i.e. from the alveoli into the capillaries]:
1. Alveolar epithelium
2. Tissue interstitium
3. Capillary endothelium
4. Plasma Layer
5. Red cell membrane
6. Red cell cytoplasm
7. Haemoglobin binding
What is ventilation perfusion matching?
To be most efficient, the correct proportion of alveolar airflow (ventilation) and capillary blood flow (perfusion) shows be available to each alveolus
What is the term for mismatching and what is the consequence?
Any mismatching is termed ventilation-perfusion inequality
• The main effect of ventilation-perfusion inequality is that the partial pressure of
oxygen (PO2) is decreased in systemic-arterial blood
Can V/Q mismatch occur in a healthy individual?
there is naturally some ventilation-perfusion inequality as it is, enough to reduce the arterial PO2 5mmHg - this is due to gravitational effects. One effect of an upright posture is to increase the filling of blood vessels at the bottom of the lung due to gravity, which contributes to the difference in blood-flow distribution in the lung. This concept explains why on average, the PO2 in the alveoli is roughly 5mmHg higher than in the arterial blood
How can regional changes in lung compliance, airway resistance, and vascular resistance cause significant ventilation-perfusion inequalities?
As a direct consequence of disease, regional changes in lung compliance, airway resistance and vascular resistance can cause significant ventilation-perfusion
inequalities.
The two extremes are:
1. There may be ventilated alveoli but no blood supply at all (known as dead space
or wasted ventilation) due to a blood clot for example
2. There may be adequate blood flow through the areas of the lung but there is no
ventilation (this is termed shunt) due to collapsed alveoli
What is the mechanism of Hypoxic Pulmonary Constriction?
A decrease in ventilation within a group of alveoli - as a result of a mucous plug blocking the small airways, for example, will lead to a decrease in alveolar PO2 and in the area around it, including the blood vessels
- This decrease in the partial pressure of O2 in the alveoli and nearby blood vessels leads to VASOCONSTRICTION - diverting blood away from the poorly ventilated area
- This effect is unique to the pulmonary arterial vessels (since in systemic circulation the opposite would occur) - it ensures that blood flow is directed away from diseases areas of the lung toward areas that are well-ventilated
What is the mechanism of Local Bronchoconstriction?
If there is a local decrease in blood flow within a lung region due to, for example, a small blood clot in a pulmonary arteriole.
- The local decrease in blood flow will mean there is less systemic CO2 in the area,resulting in a local decrease of the partial pressure of CO2
- This results in BRONCHOCONSTRICTION which diverts airflow away to areas of the lung with better perfusion
• Both the factors mentioned above greatly improve the efficiency of pulmonary gas exchange - but they are NOT PERFECT even in a healthy lung - there is ALWAYS a small ventilation-perfusion mismatch which leads to the normal alveolar-arterial O2 gradient of about 5mmHg
What is PaCO2?
Arterial CO2
What is PACO2?
Alveolar CO2
What is PaO2?
Arterial O2
What is PAO2?
Alveolar O2
What is PIO2?
Pressure of Inspired Oxygen
What is V̇A?
Alveolar ventilation
What is V̇CO2?
CO2 production
What is the structure of haemoglobin?
Each haemoglobin molecule is a protein made up of four subunits bound together. Each subunit costs of a molecular group known as haem and a polypeptide attached to the haem. The four polypeptides of a haemoglobin molecule are collectively called
globin. Each of the four hemmed groups in a haemoglobin molecule contain one
atom of iron (Fe2+), to which molecular oxygen binds. Thus a SINGLE HAEMOGLOBIN MOLECULE can bind 4 OXYGEN MOLECULES - due to Fe2+ x 4
What is the equation for the reaction between 1 O2 and a haem unit?
O2 + Hb ⇄ HbO2
What are the two forms of haemoglobin?
Hb (deoxyhaemoglobin) and HbO2 (oxyhaemoglobin)
Describe the haemoglobin curve?
curve is sigmoid shaped since because each haemoglobin contains four sub-units,
each subunit can combine with one molecule of oxygen, and the reaction go the four
subunits occur sequentially (i.e. one after the other), with each combination
facilitating the next one
- From the curve it can be seen that at the extent to which oxygen combines with haemoglobin increases very rapidly as the partial pressure of oxygen (PO2) increases from 10 to 60mmHg, so that at a partial pressure of oxygen at 60mmHg approximately 90% OF THE TOTAL HAEMOGLOBIN IS COMBINED WITH OXYGEN the haemoglobin can be said to be 90% saturated at this point
- From this point onwards, a further increase in the partial pressure of oxygen produces only a small increase in oxygen binding - the curve plateau’s after
60mmHg - This plateau at higher partial O2 pressures is very important. In many situations,including at high altitude & with pulmonary disease, a moderate reduction in
alveolar O2 partial pressure and thus arterial partial pressure. Even if the partial O2 pressure is decreased from the normal value of 100 to 60mmHg, the total
quantity of O2 carried by haemoglobin would decrease by only 10% since haemoglobin saturation is still close to 90% at a partial oxygen pressure of 60mmHg. The plateau provides an EXCELLENT SAFETY FACTOR so that even a significant limitation of lung function still allows almost normal oxygen saturation of haemoglobin
Haemoglobin gives up oxygen in areas of low partial O2 pressure i.e metabolically active tissue where oxygen will diffuse from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration
What is the effect of an increase in temperature and decrease in pH on the oxygen disocciation curve?
An increase in TEMPERATURE and a decrease in pH (or increase in acidity)causes the disassociation curves to shift to the RIGHT - this means that at any given partial O2 pressure, haemoglobin has LESS affinity for oxygen
• Temperature is increased because of the heat produced by tissue metabolism
• pH is decreased/acidity is increased because of the elevated CO2 partial pressure (which enters from the tissues) and the release of metabolically produced acids e.g. lactic acid
• Haemoglobin being exposed to this elevated partial CO2 pressure, H+ concentration & temperatures as it passes through the tissue capillaries has a decreased affinity for oxygen - thus meaning it gives up more oxygen than if the decreased tissue capillary partial O2 pressure was the only operating factor
• The more metabolically active a tissue is, the greater its partial CO2 pressure, H+ concentration and temperature will be. This causes the haemoglobin to release more oxygen during passage through tissue’s capillaries and provides the more active cells with additional oxygen
What is the effect of a decrease in temperature and an increase in pH on the oxygen dissociation curve?
Shifts to the left
A shift of the curve to the LEFT (can remember as Left = Locks in O2 more) will have the opposite effect - that is that at any given partial O2 pressure, haemoglobin will have MORE affinity for oxygen
What is the effect of carbon monoxide on the oxygen dissociation curve?
Carbon monoxide also influences the oxygen-disassociation curve. CO has a 200 times greater affinity for the oxygen-binding sites on haemoglobin than O2. For this reason it reduces the amount of oxygen that combines with haemoglobin in pulmonary capillaries by competing for sites. It also alters the
haemoglobin molecule itself so it has less of an affinity for O2. This means that CO shifts the oxygen-haemoglobin dissociation curve to the LEFT - thus decreasing the unloading of O2 from haemoglobin in the tissues
What is the relationship between partial pressure of arterial CO2 and alveolar ventilation?
The partial pressure of arterial CO2 is inversely related to alveolar ventilation: PaCO2 = kV̇CO2 / V̇A
What are the three ways that CO2 is carried in the blood and what are the percentages?
CO2 is carried in the blood in three ways:
1. Bound to haemoglobin - 23% approximately via this reaction:
• CO2 + Hb ⇄ HbCO2
• Forming carbaminohaemoglobin - this reaction is aided by the fact that deoxyhaemoglobin (Hb) formed as blood flows through tissue capillaries has a
greater affinity for CO2 that does oxyhaemoglobin (HbO2)
2. Plasma dissolved CO2 - 10% approximately
3. As HCO3- (bicarbonate) - 60-65% via this reaction
CO2 +H2O ⇄ H2CO3 ⇄ HCO3- + H+
What is Dalton’s Law?
pressure exerted by each gas in a mixture of gases is independent of the pressure exerted by the other gases. This is because gas molecules are normally so far apart that they do not affect each other. Each gas in a mixture behaves as though no other gases are present, so the total pressure of the mixture is simply the sum of the individual pressure known as partial pressures which are directly proportional to its concentration
What is Boyle’s Law and what is the equation?
pressure of a fixed amount of gas in a container is inversely proportional to container’s volume
P1V1 = P2V2
What is Henry’s Law?
amount of gas dissolved in a liquid is proportional to the partial pressure of gas with which the liquid is in equilibrium - at equilibrium the partial pressures of the gas molecules in the liquid and gaseous phases must be identical
What is the alveolar gas equation?
PAO2 = PiO2 - PaCO2/R (R= the respiratory exchange ratio)- the ratio between the amount of CO2 produced in metabolism and oxygen used
What is the equation for pressure?
Flow x resistance
What is the Law of Laplace and what is the equation?
describes the relationship between pressure (P), surface tension(T) and the radius (r) of an alveolus
P = 2T/r
What is Lung Compliance?
the change in lung volume caused by a given change in transpulmonary pressure; the greater the lung compliance, the more readily the lungs are expanded
What are the determinants of lung compliance?
Elasticity of lung tissues and surface tension of the air-water interfaces of the alveoli
What is surface tension and how is it reduced in the alveoli?
At an air-water interface, the attractive forces between the water molecules -
known as surface tension, make the water lining like a stretched balloon that
constantly tends to shrink and resists further stretching
• Thus, the expansion of the lungs, requires energy not only to stretch the
connective tissue of the lung but also to OVERCOME the surface tension of the
water layer lining the alveoli
• In pure water, the surface tension is so great that lung expansion would require
exhausting muscular effort and eventually result in lung collapse
• Luckily, TYPE II PNEUMOCYTES in the alveoli, produce SURFACTANT which markedly REDUCES the cohesive forces between water molecules on the alveolar surface. Thus surfactant lowers the surface tension, which in turn increases lung compliance and makes it EASIER to EXPAND the lungs
• The amount of surfactant tends to decrease when breaths are small and constant.
• A deep breath, which people normally intersperse frequently in their breathing pattern, stretches the type II pneumocytes, which in turn stimulates the secretion of surfactant - this is why patients who have had thoracic or abdominal surgery and are breathing shallowly because of the pain must be urged to take occasional deep breaths
What is the normal pH in the body and what is the range?
7.4 (7.35-7.45)
What are the three main buffering systems in the body? What is the most important system?
Intracellular and extracellular buffers
The lungs eliminating CO2
renal HCO3- reaborption and H+ elimination
• The most important buffer is the carbonic acid/bicarbonate buffer which works in
tandem with the lungs to compensate for increased carbonic acid production
What is the bicarbonate buffer equation?
CO2 +H2O ⇄ H2CO3 ⇄ HCO3- + H+
What is the process of respiratory acidosis?
When a person hypoventilates i.e. there is inadequate ventilation of the alveoli meaning CO2 cannot be excreted and expired adequately, the partial pressure of CO2 increases thereby resulting in more carbonic acid being produced and thus an increased H+ concentration in the blood
What is the process of respiratory alkalosis?
Conversely hyperventilation would decrease arterial partial CO2 pressure and thus H+ concentration
What is the Henderson Hasselbach equation?
pH=6.1* + log10([HCO3-]/[0.03*PCO2])
- = Dissociation constant for the bicarbonate buffer system
- 0.03*PCO2 = estimate of H2CO3
- 0.03 = the blood CO2 solubility co-efficient
What is the location of the neurons primarily involved in the control of breathing?
Control of breathing resides primarily in neurons in the medulla oblongata, the same area of the brain that contains the major cardiovascular control centres
What are the two components of the Medullary Respiratory Centre?
Dorsal Respiratory Group (DRG) and the Ventral Respiratory Group (VRG)
What is the role of the DRG?
These primarily fire during inspiration and have input to the spinal motor neurons that activate respiratory muscles involved in inspiration - diaphragm and external intercostal muscles
What is the role of the VRG?
- The respiratory rhythm generator is located in the pre-Botzinger complex of neurons in the upper part of the VRG
- This rhythm generator appears to be composed of pacemaker cells and a complex neural network that, acting together, set the basal respiratory rate
- The VRG contains expiratory neurons that appear to be most important when large increases in ventilation are required e.g. during strenuous physical activity
- During active expiration, motor neurones activated by the expiratory output of the VRG cause the expiratory muscles to contract
- During quiet breathing the respiratory rhythm generator activates inspiratory neurons in the VRG that depolarise the inspiratory spinal motor neurons, resulting in the inspiratory muscles contracting
• The medullary inspiratory neurons receive a rich synaptic input from neurons
from various areas in the PONS - the part of the brainstem, just above the medulla
What is the location of the Apneustic Centre and what is its role?
An area of the lower pons called the apneustic centre is thought to be involved in fine-tuning the output of the inspiratory neurons of the medulla and in continuing to activate inspiratory neurons to inhibit expiration. It can be overridden by the pneumotaxic centre
What is the location of the pneumotaxic centre and what is its role?
An area of the upper pons called the pneumotaxic centre regulates and on occasion can override the activity of the apneustic centre. The pneumotaxic centre is also known as the pontine respiratory group and acts to smooth the transition between inspiration and expiration. It is also thought to be involved in switching off inspiratory neurons to prevent hyperinflation thus allowing expiration
What receptors are present in the nose, nasopharynx and larynx and what is their response in respiration?
Chemo and mechanoreceptors, some appear to
sense and monitor flow - stimulation of these receptors appears to inhibit the central controller i.e medullary respiratory centre
What receptors are present in the pharynx and what is their response in respiration?
has receptors that appear to be activated by swallowing - respiratory activity stops during swallowing thereby protecting against risk of aspiration of food or liquid
What are the charactarestics and response of Slowly Adapting Stretch Receptors (SASR’s)?
Characteristics:
-Myelinated
- Maintain a persistent or slowly decaying receptor potential during constant
stimulus - initiating action potentials in afferent neutrons for the duration of the
stimulus
- Found in airway smooth muscle
- Activated by lung distension
Response:
High activity inhibits further inspiration, thus beginning expiration
- If inflation is maintained they slowly adapt to low frequency firing
What are the characteristics and the response of Rapidly Adapting Stretch Receptors (RASR’s)?
Characteristics:
- Myelinated
- Generate a receptor potential and action potentials at the onset of a stimulus but
very quickly cease responding
- Found between airway epithelial cells
- Activated by lung distension and irritants
Response:
- Produce brief burst of activity
- High activity causes bronchoconstriction
- Might be involved in the cough reflex
What are the characteristics and response of C Fibres J Receptors?
Characteristics:
- Non-myelinated
- Found either in the capillary walls or the interstitium
-Stimulated by an increase in lung interstitial pressure causes by the collection offluid in the interstitium. Such an increase can occur during the vascular congestion
caused by either occlusion of a pulmonary vessel (pulmonary embolism) or left
ventricular heart failure as well as by strenuous activity in healthy people
Response:
- Activity results in rapid breathing (tachypena), shallow breathing,
bronchoconstriction, cardiovascular depression & a dry cough
- In addition, neural input from J receptors gives rise to sensations of pressure in the
chest and dyspnea - the feeling that breathing is laboured or difficult
What is the location of the peripheral chemoreceptors?
Located high in the neck at the bifurcation of the common carotid arteries (quite
close to the carotid sinus) and in the thorax on the arch of the aorta are called the CAROTID BODIES and AORTIC BODIES.
- In both locations, they are quite close to, but distinct from, the arterial baroreceptors and are in intimate contact with the arterial blood
- The carotid bodies, in particular, are strategically located to monitor oxygen supply to the brain
What is detected by the peripheral chemoreceptors and what is the mechanism?
- The peripheral chemoreceptors are composed of specialise receptor cells stimulated mainly by a decrease in the arterial partial pressure of oxygen and an increase in the arterial H+ concentration. Type II cells located here - on there detection of hypoxia (low O2 levels) release stored neurotransmitters that stimulate the carotid sinus nerve. These cells provide excitatory synaptic input to the medullary inspiratory neurons
- The carotid body input is the predominant peripheral chemoreceptor involved in the control of respiration
- Peripheral chemoreceptors are not sensitive to small reductions of the arterial partial O2 pressure, it is only when the arterial partial pressure of O2 goes comes close to 60mmHg (where haemoglobin is close to 90% saturated - see oxygen dissociation curve) that the peripheral chemoreceptors begin to really fire and thereby increase ventilation in order to raise the arterial partial O2 pressure. This occurs due to the fact that total oxygen transport of the blood is not really reduced very much until the arterial partial pressure of O2 falls below 60mmHg - thus increased ventilation would not result in much more O2 being added to the blood until that point is reached
- The same occurs with carbon monoxide in the blood, since CO does not effect the amount of O2 that can dissolve in the blood and does not alter the oxygen- diffusion capacity of the lung, the arterial partial O2 pressure is unaltered meaning that no increase in peripheral chemoreceptor output or ventilation occurs
What is the location of the central chemoreceptors?
Located in the medulla
What is detected by the central chemoreceptors and what is the mechanism?
-Provide excitatory synaptic input to the medullary inspiratory neurons
- They are stimulated by an increase in the H+ concentration of the brains cerebra spinal fluid (CSF) - HOWEVER since the blood-brain barrier is relatively impermeable to H+, changes in H+ in the blood are poorly reflected in the CSF. However, CO2 diffuses readily into the CSF and blood partial CO2 pressure can
influence CSF pH enabling the central chemoreceptors to detect H+ changes
- Very small increases in the arterial partial CO2 pressure causes a marked reflex increase in ventilation - the reflex mechanisms controlling ventilation prevent SMALL increases in arterial partial CO2 pressure to a MUCH GREATER DEGREE than they prevent equivalent decrease in the arterial partial O2 pressure
- Thus, ventilatory drive is extremely sensitive to changes in the arterial partial CO2 pressure of blood entering the brain:
- If there is an increase in the arterial partial CO2 pressure then some of the extra CO2 will diffuse into the CSF, there the CO2 will react with H2O in the CSF as in the reaction above, eventually resulting in more H+ ions enabling the central
chemoreceptors to detect the pH change and thus increase ventilation by stimulating the medullary inspiratory neurons - NOTE: peripheral chemoreceptors will also detect the increase in the arterial partial CO2 pressure and will send potentials to the medullary inspiratory centre to stimulate ventilation BUT the CENTRAL chemoreceptors account for 70% of the increased ventilation
Define the arterial pressure of oxygen?
PaO2– Partialpressureofoxygenat sea level (160 mmHg in the atmosphere, 21% of standard atmosphericpressureof 760 mmHg) inarterial bloodis between 75 mmHg and 100 mmHg and is the measure of oxygen within the arterial blood.
Define arterial pressure of CO2?
The partialpressureofarterial carbon dioxide(PCO2) is the measure ofcarbon dioxidewithinarterialblood. It often serves as a marker of sufficientalveolarventilation within the lungs. Generally, under normal physiologic conditions, the value ofPCO2ranges between 35 to 45 mmHg, or 4.7 to 6.0 kPa
Define Hypoxia?
Defines as a deficiency of oxygen at the tissue level
- The most common type of hypoxia is hypoxic hypoxia or hypoxemia: in which the
arterial partial O2 pressure is reduced
What are the most common causes of hypoxia?
Hypoventilation
Diffusion Impairment
Shunting
Ventilation-Perfusion mismatch
Describe how hypoventilation leads to hypoxia?
results in an increased arterial partial CO2 pressure:
- Failure to ventilate the alveoli adequately
- Caused by; muscular weakness (motor neurone disease), obesity & loss of
respiratory drive (e.g. if you prevent the brain from accessing the lungs due to morphine for example)