A number of recent studies seems to have reinforced the observation by Krogh and Lindhard in 1917 that the process of diffusion equilibrium is slow enough to leave a concentration gradient in the lungs, that is, stratified inhomogeneity.
This comes to an idea that the incompleteness of equilibrium would cause any detectable effect on gas transport.
Aim of the present study was to assess the significance of gaseous diffusion between inspired and alveolar gases in the lung.
When two different indicator gases are inspired simultaneously and the breath is held, the time course and/or the amount of gases which are transfered into pulmonary capillaries during a certain period of breath-holding will be different due to the difference in diffusivities of the indicator gases, if diffusion in the gaseous space is slow enough.
On the basis of this assumption and some theoretical considerations, experimental observations were made on 10 anesthetized dogs. Acetylene (C
2H
2) and monochlorodifluoromethane (CHClF
2) were chosen as indicator gases, which had different diffusivities and practically the equal solubilities in blood.
During breath-holding for 15 seconds at end-inspiration of a known volume of test gas, which contains approximately 1.5% of each indicator gas, respectively, six successive arterial blood samplings were made anerobically. Blood and gas samples were analyzed for C
2H
2 and CHClF
2 by gas chromatography, using Porapak-N column. Arterial gas contents of each indicator gas corrected by the concentration in the inspired gas were plotted againstithe time scale of breath-holding to obtain the ratio of gas transport.
The results obtained show that the more diffusible gas, C
2H
2, appears in arterial blood faster and slightly higher in the concentration than CHClF
2 for the early part of breath-holding. When the ratio of gas transports of the two indicator gases was compared for the first 3 seconds after the initial appearance of C
2H
2 in blood, the transport rate of C
2H
2 exceeded that of CHClF
2 by 10 to 17% on the average.
In conclusion, gaseous diffusion in the lungs cannot be disregarded as a factor of gas transport.
View full abstract