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The alveolar oxygen partial pressure is lower than the atmospheric O 2 partial pressure for two reasons. Firstly, as the air enters the lungs, it is humidified by the upper airway and thus the partial pressure of water vapour (47 mmHg) reduces the oxygen partial pressure to about 150 mmHg.
Alveolar pressure (PA) at end expiration is equal to atmospheric pressure (0 cm H 2 O differential pressure, at zero flow), plus or minus 2 cm H 2 O (1.5 mmHg) throughout the lung. On the other hand, gravity causes a gradient in blood pressure between the top and bottom of the lung of 20 mmHg in the erect position (roughly half of that in the ...
Ventilation is normally unconscious and automatic, but can be overridden by conscious alternative patterns. [3] Thus the emotions can cause yawning, laughing, sighing (etc.), social communication causes speech, song and whistling, while entirely voluntary overrides are used to blow out candles, and breath holding (for instance, to swim underwater).
However, it is not practical to take a sample of gas from the alveoli in order to directly measure the partial pressure of oxygen. The alveolar gas equation allows the calculation of the alveolar partial pressure of oxygen from data that is practically measurable. It was first characterized in 1946. [1]
This matching may be assessed in the lung as a whole, or in individual or in sub-groups of gas-exchanging units in the lung. On the other side Ventilation-perfusion mismatch is the term used when the ventilation and the perfusion of a gas exchanging unit are not matched. The actual values in the lung vary depending on the position within the lung.
Pulmonary compliance is calculated using the following equation, where ΔV is the change in volume, and ΔP is the change in pleural pressure: = For example, if a patient inhales 500 mL of air from a spirometer with an intrapleural pressure before inspiration of −5 cm H 2 O and −10 cm H 2 O at the end of inspiration.
Cardiac monitoring generally refers to continuous or intermittent monitoring of heart activity to assess a patient's condition relative to their cardiac rhythm.Cardiac monitoring is usually carried out using electrocardiography, which is a noninvasive process that records the heart's electrical activity and displays it in an electrocardiogram. [1]
The Alveolar–arterial gradient (A-aO 2, [1] or A–a gradient), is a measure of the difference between the alveolar concentration (A) of oxygen and the arterial (a) concentration of oxygen. It is a useful parameter for narrowing the differential diagnosis of hypoxemia. [2] The A–a gradient helps to assess the integrity of the alveolar ...