Using the pathophysiology of obstructive sleep apnea to teach cardiopulmonary integration.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common disorder of upper airway obstruction during sleep. The effects of intermittent upper airway obstruction include alveolar hypoventilation, altered arterial blood gases and acid-base status, and stimulation of the arterial chemoreceptors, which leads to frequent arousals. These arousals disturb sleep architecture and cause hypersomnolence. Chronic intermittent alveolar and systemic arterial hypoxia-hypercapnia can cause pulmonary and systemic hypertension, with effects on the right and left ventricles, and even the renal system. The pathophysiology of OSA can therefore be used to review and integrate many topics in pulmonary and cardiovascular physiology in the context of problem-based learning, a guided discussion, or a formal lecture. The discussion begins with a case scenario, followed by a definition of the disorder, the common symptoms and signs of OSA, and a description of an apneic event. These are related to the physiology of the upper airway in OSA, normal alterations in the respiratory system during sleep, the effects of apnea on gas exchange and arterial blood gases, and the cardiovascular consequences of alterations in alveolar and systemic arterial PO(2) and PCO(2). The treatment of OSA, particularly how the use of continuous positive airway pressure relates to the pathophysiology of the disorder, is discussed briefly.

Teaching the effects of gravity and intravascular and alveolar pressures on the distribution of pulmonary blood flow using a classic paper by West et al.

"Distribution of blood flow in isolated lung; relation to vascular and alveolar pressures" by J. B. West, C. T. Dollery, and A. Naimark (J Appl Physiol 19: 713-724, 1964) is a classic paper, although it has not yet been included in the Essays on the American Physiological Society Classic Papers Project (http://www.the-aps.org/publications/classics/). This is the paper that originally described the "zones of the lung." The final figure in the paper, which synthesizes the results and discussion, is now seen in most textbooks of physiology or respiratory physiology. The paper is also a model of clear, concise writing. The paper and its final figure can be used to teach or review a number of physiological concepts. These include the effects of gravity on pulmonary blood flow and pulmonary vascular resistance; recruitment and distention of pulmonary vessels; the importance of the transmural pressure on the diameter of collapsible distensible vessels; the Starling resistor; the interplay of the pulmonary artery, pulmonary vein, and alveolar pressures; and the vascular waterfall. In addition, the figure can be used to generate discovery learning and discussion of several physiological or pathophysiological effects on pulmonary vascular resistance and the distribution of pulmonary blood flow.

Low positive end-expiratory pressure does not exacerbate nebulized-acid lung injury in dogs.

It is not clear if low end-expiratory pressures contribute to ventilator-induced lung injury in large animals. We sought to determine whether ventilation with a low level of positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) worsens preexisting permeability lung injury in dogs. Lung injury was initiated in 20 mongrel dogs by ventilating with nebulized 3N hydrochloric acid until a lower inflection point (LIP) appeared on the respiratory system pressure-volume loop. One group of 10 dogs was then ventilated for 4 hours with PEEP set below the LIP (low PEEP), whereas the remaining group of dogs was ventilated for the same time period with similar tidal volumes but with PEEP set above the LIP (high PEEP). We found histologic evidence of reduced alveolar volumes in the low-PEEP animals. However, there were no differences in neutrophil infiltration, lung lobe weights, pulmonary capillary hemorrhage or congestion, or arterial endothelin-1 concentration between the 2 protocol groups. In conclusion, we were unable to demonstrate that ventilation with PEEP set below the LIP exacerbates hydrochloric acid-induced lung injury in dogs.

The "Goldilocks effect" in cystic fibrosis: identification of a lung phenotype in the cftr knockout and heterozygous mouse.

BACKGROUND: Cystic Fibrosis is a pleiotropic disease in humans with primary morbidity and mortality associated with a lung disease phenotype. However, knockout in the mouse of cftr, the gene whose mutant alleles are responsible for cystic fibrosis, has previously failed to produce a readily, quantifiable lung phenotype. RESULTS: Using measurements of pulmonary mechanics, a definitive lung phenotype was demonstrated in the cftr-/- mouse. Lungs showed decreased compliance and increased airway resistance in young animals as compared to cftr+/+ littermates. These changes were noted in animals less than 60 days old, prior to any long term inflammatory effects that might occur, and are consistent with structural differences in the cftr-/- lungs. Surprisingly, the cftr+/- animals exhibited a lung phenotype distinct from either the homozygous normal or knockout genotypes. The heterozygous mice showed increased lung compliance and decreased airway resistance when compared to either homozygous phenotype, suggesting a heterozygous advantage that might explain the high frequency of this mutation in certain populations. CONCLUSIONS: In the mouse the gene dosage of cftr results in distinct differences in pulmonary mechanics of the adult. Distinct phenotypes were demonstrated in each genotype, cftr-/-, cftr +/-, and cftr+/+. These results are consistent with a developmental role for CFTR in the lung.

Estimation of pulmonary artery occlusion pressure by an artificial neural network.

OBJECTIVE: We hypothesized that an artificial neural network, interconnected computer elements capable of adaptation and learning, could accurately estimate pulmonary artery occlusion pressure from the pulsatile pulmonary artery waveform. SETTING: University medical center. SUBJECTS: Nineteen closed-chest dogs. INTERVENTIONS: Pulmonary artery waveforms were digitally sampled before conventional measurements of pulmonary artery occlusion pressure under control conditions, during infusions of serotonin or histamine, or during volume loading. Individual beats were parsed or separated out. Pulmonary artery pressure, its first time derivative, and the beat duration were used as neural inputs. The neural network was trained by using 80% of all samples and tested on the remaining 20%. For comparison, the regression between pulmonary artery diastolic pressure and pulmonary artery occlusion pressure was developed and tested using the same data sets. As a final test of generalizability, the neural network was trained on data obtained from 18 dogs and tested on data from the remaining dog in a round-robin fashion. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The correlation coefficient between the pulmonary artery diastolic pressure estimate of pulmonary artery occlusion pressure and measured pulmonary artery occlusion pressure was.75, whereas that for the neural network estimate of pulmonary artery occlusion pressure was.97 (p <.01 for difference between pulmonary artery diastolic pressure and pulmonary artery occlusion pressure estimates). The pulmonary artery diastolic pressure estimate of pulmonary artery occlusion pressure showed a bias of 0.097 mm Hg (limits of agreement -7.57 to 7.767 mm Hg), whereas the neural network estimate of pulmonary artery occlusion pressure showed a bias of -0.002 mm Hg (-2.592 to 2.588 mm Hg). There was no significant change in the bias of the neural network estimate over the range of values tested. In contrast, the bias for the pulmonary artery diastolic pressure estimate significantly increased with the increasing magnitude of the pulmonary artery occlusion pressure. During round-robin testing, the neural network estimate of pulmonary artery occlusion pressure showed suboptimal performance (correlation coefficient between estimated and measured pulmonary artery occlusion pressure.59). CONCLUSIONS: A neural network can accurately estimate pulmonary artery occlusion pressure over a wide range of pulmonary artery occlusion pressure under conditions that alter pulmonary hemodynamics. We speculate that artificial neural networks could provide accurate, real-time estimates of pulmonary artery occlusion pressure in critically ill patients.

Functional residual capacity: the human windbag.

Like the windbag of a bagpipe, the functional residual capacity (FRC) is the lung volume that acts as a reservoir of air for physiologic use. This reserve volume is particularly important during the period of apnea that occurs during induction of general anesthesia. The balance of the inward elastic recoil of the lung and the outward chest wall forces determines the FRC. Inward recoil forces are dependent on the interaction between the fibrous skeleton of the lung tissue and the alveolar surface tension regulated by pulmonary surfactant. Positioning and the use of inhaled and intravenous anesthetics influence outward chest wall forces. Factors that affect the FRC may be altered by volume recruitment maneuvers such as administration of vital capacity breaths, the application of positive end-expiratory pressure, and/or maintenance of anesthesia with a fraction of inspired oxygen of less than 1.0. This course reviews the basic anatomy and physiology of the FRC during the perioperative period. Understanding the processes that contribute to intraoperative loss of lung volume and knowledge of interventions that can allay them are paramount to providing a reliable and safe general anesthetic.

Pulmonary capillary pressure during acute lung injury in dogs.

OBJECTIVES: To measure pulmonary capillary pressure and pulmonary artery occlusion pressures both during control conditions and during acute lung injury and to evaluate the effects of inotropic therapy and volume loading on these measurements after lung injury. DESIGN: Prospective, randomized, controlled laboratory trial. SETTING: University research laboratory. SUBJECTS: Eighteen heartworm-free mongrel dogs. INTERVENTIONS: Dogs were anesthetized (sodium pentobarbital, 30 mg/kg intravenously), intubated, and mechanically ventilated. A femoral artery and vein and the right external jugular vein were cannulated. After a median sternotomy, two pulmonary artery catheters were inserted via the jugular vein into the left and right lower lobar pulmonary arteries. Oleic acid (0.03 mL/kg) was administered to all dogs via the left pulmonary artery catheter, whereas the right lower lobe served as control. A baseline group of dogs received no further interventions, whereas two additional groups were given dobutamine (30-60 microg x kg(-1) x min(-1)intravenously) or saline boluses (1-2 L) before measurements were obtained after oleic acid lung injury. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Capillary pressure was estimated in both lower lung lobes by using the pulmonary artery occlusion method. Pulmonary capillary and pulmonary artery occlusion pressures were measured before and 2 hrs after oleic acid administration. Left lower lobar capillary pressure increased in all three groups, as did the difference between capillary pressure and pulmonary artery occlusion pressure. Capillary pressure in the control right lower lobe increased significantly only in the saline-loaded dogs, whereas the difference between the right-sided capillary and occlusion pressures increased only in the dogs given dobutamine. CONCLUSIONS: Oleic acid lung injury increases pulmonary capillary pressure independent of pulmonary artery occlusion pressure. The gradient between the two pressures was not significantly affected by volume loading or dobutamine infusion.