Lung volumes are considered part of a complete pulmonary function test, but their value for enhancing clinical decision making is unknown. Unlike spirometry and diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide (D(LCO)), which do contribute to confirming or excluding a diagnosis, there are few clear indications when lung volumes are discriminatory. Confirming "restriction" when vital capacity...

The results obtained from two radiological methods of determining total lung capacity (TLC) (Kovach's parabo-oid and Barnhard's ellipsoid) were compared with those obtained with the body plethysmograph. Determinations of TLC were made in four groups of subjects: group 1 consisted of 26 miners most of whom had simple pneumoconiosis; group 2 consisted of 12 normal subjects; group 3 consisted of e...

There are various ways of measuring absolute lung volume. These range from measurements derived from chest radiographs to the more common laboratory measurements employing either gas dilution or plethysmography. The principal difference between the latter two methods is that gas dilution techniques measure gas that is in free communication with the airway opening, whilst plethysmography measure...

BACKGROUND Mechanical ventilation with high tidal volumes aggravates lung injury in patients with acute lung injury or acute respiratory distress syndrome. The authors sought to determine the effects of short-term mechanical ventilation on local inflammatory responses in patients without preexisting lung injury. METHODS Patients scheduled to undergo an elective surgical procedure (lasting > o...

The reproducibility of pulmonary function tests in the laboratory and in a mobile field survey vehicle has been studied. Groups of laboratory workers were studied at base and a random sample of 38 coalminers was examined in the mobile laboratory. The intra-subject variability of some newer tests of lung function, including closing volume and maximum flow at low lung volumes, has been compared w...

The multibreath helium equilibration method is the technique recommended for routine measurement of static lung volumes in normal subjects. However, pregnancy could be an exception to this general rule, due to airway closure during the second half of gestation. The aim of this study was to compare the measurements of lung volumes by plethysmography and helium dilution during pregnancy. Twenty t...

Although the influence of obesity on pulmonary function tests has been examined, the role of body fat distribution has received limited attention. Pulmonary studies of patients severely affected by upper body obesity suggest they have more severely compromised lung volumes than obese patients with lower body obesity. We examined 42 healthy but normal or mildly obese men to determine if body fat...

Punctate reopening of the lung from subresidual volumes (sub-RV) is commonly observed in excised lung preparations, either degassed or collapsed to zero transpulmonary pressure, and in the course of reinflation of human lungs when the chest is open, secondary to traumatic or surgical pneumothoraxes. In the course of physiological studies on two elite breath-hold divers, who are able to achieve ...