Week 8: Respiratory Flashcards
What respiratory structures make up the respiratory zone?
respiratory bronchioles, alveolar ducts, alveoli
What is another name for the respiratory zone?
lung parenchyma
What is the major role of the respiratory zone?
responsible for gas exchange
What do each variable of Fick’s Law of Diffusion represent?
D: Partial pressures and gas solubilities
A: surface area of the respiratory membrane
C: concentration gradient
X: Thickness of the respiratory membrane
What are examples of diseases that affect the variables of Fick’s law of diffusion?
X: Pulmonary fibrosis
A: Emphysema or atelectasis
DC: High altitude - decreased concentrations of O2 in inspired air
Where is the respiratory regulatory center located and what are the two organs involved?
Regulatory center located in the brainstem
Medulla sets the rhythm, pons modifies the rhythm
What is the primary and secondary signal for respiratory regulation?
Primary: CO2
Secondary: O2
Define the following breathing patterns: eupnea, tachypnea, dyspnea, apnea
Eupnea: normal quiet breathing
Tachypnea: increased respiratory rate
Dyspnea: subjective sensation of breathlessness
Apnea: cessation of respiration
What are Cheyne-Stokes respirations? What is it a sign of and when is it often seen?
waxing and waning tidal volume with periodic apnea sign of impending death, seen in heart failure and stroke
What are Kusmaal respirations and when does it occur?
rapid and deep ventilation - when body becomes acidic, respiratory compensation, example DKA
Define and explain the importance of pulmonary function testing and arterial blood gas evaluation with regard to pulmonary assessment.
PFT: tests elastic properties of the lung & airway resistance
ABG: assess pulmonary gas exchange and delivery to tissues
Define ventilation and perfusion
Ventilation: flow of gases into and out of the alveoli of the lungs
Perfusion: flow of blood in the adjacent pulmonary capillaries
How is ventilation and perfusion normally matched?
Normally matches cardiac output - 5-6 liters
Normal ratio: 0.6-3.0
What is the consequence of V/Q mismatching on gas exchange? What are the s/s (3)?
This will cause a change in the V/Q ratio and can affect the efficiency of gas exchange
Increasing inspired O2 fraction will improve hypoxia due to an inequality in V/Q but the greater the inequality the less the response to increasing FIO2
S/S: dyspnea, cyanosis and clubbing
Define hypoxemia and what is the common cause
Hypoxemia = PaO2 < 85mmHg
Common cause: mismatched ventilation and perfusion
What are causes of mismatched ventilation and perfusion (4)?
- Decreased O2 in inspired air: high altitude or anesthesia mismanagement
- Alveolar hypoventilation: pulmonary or neuromuscular disease, CNS depression, inadequate ventilation during anesthesia
- Diffusion abnormalities: pulmonary edema, fibrosis
- Issues with circulation: right to left shunt, congenital heart defect, atelectasis
Define hypercapnia and what is the common cause
Hypercapnia = increased PaCO2 (normal 38-42)
Common cause: hypoventilation
What are the causes of hypoventilation (5)?
- Depression of resp center
- Diseases of medulla (infections of CNS or trauma)
- Spinal cord disruption
- Diseases of the neuromuscular junction
- Large airway obstruction
Define dead space, what disorders can increase dead space?
Dead space: ventilation without perfusion due to occlusion of blood supply
Pulmonary embolism, emphysema
Define shunt and identify three causes of shunt
Shunt: no ventilation with perfusion; - no gas exchange occurs in that alveoli and increases shunt fraction
obstructed airway, bronchoconstriction, pulmonary edema
Define compliance
Compliance = measure of lung and chest wall dispensability, defined as volume change per unit of pressure change
How do elastin and collagen contribute to compliance?
Elastin: stretchy connective tissue fiber within alveolar walls that contributes to passive deflation of the lungs
Collagen: resistance to stretchability (opposes surface tension)
Define surface tension
Refers to tendency for liquid molecules exposed to air to adhere to one another
What is surfactant?
Surfactant: detergent-like substance that helps keep air stretches open, reduces air patches of liquid on sides of wall
What happens in a disorder of increased compliance, and what is an example?
Disorder of increased compliance: over stretched, recoil is affected
Emphysema - loss of elastic tissue