Pulmonary Function in Left Ventricular Failure , Including Cardiac Asthma By RICHARD

ALTHOUGH Harrison1 and others have presented detailed studies of blood gases in left heart failure and cardiac asthma, and a number of papers on the experimental production of cardiac asthma and pulmonary edema are available,2 there are no complete studies of the markedly abnormal respiratory patterns in this state. McCann3 in a recent review has referred to the elevation of arterial pCO2 in the later stage of cardiac decompensation as "replacing the initial hypocapnia." Rodbard4 has emphasized the importance of bronchospasm in cardiac asthma. Our study will attempt to describe the respiratory pattern of left-sided heart failure in an effort to define the physiologic characteristics of such a state. Particular attention will be paid to the respiratory defects found in those patients with cardiac asthma. Studies of the respiratory patterns in mitral stenosis and in emphysema will be used for comparison and contrast.