Direct measurement of static chest wall compliance in animal and human neonates

1988 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 1093-1098 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. M. Davis ◽  
A. L. Coates ◽  
A. Papageorgiou ◽  
M. A. Bureau

The measurement of pulmonary mechanics has been developed extensively for adults, and these techniques have been applied directly to neonates and infants. However, the compliant chest wall of the infant frequently predisposes to chest wall distortion, especially when there is a low dynamic lung compliance (CL,dyn). We describe a technique of directly measuring the static chest wall compliance (Cw,st), developed initially in the newborn lamb and subsequently applied to the premature neonate with chest wall distortion. The mean CL,dyn in seven intubated newborn lambs in normoxia was 2.45 +/- 0.41 ml.cmH2O-1.kg-1, whereas Cw,st was 11.81 +/- 0.25 ml.cmH2O-1.kg-1. These values did not change significantly in seven animals breathing through a tight-fitting face mask or with hypercapnia-induced tachypnea. For the eight premature infants the mean CL,dyn was 1.35 +/- 0.36 ml.cmH2O-1.kg-1, whereas the mean Cw,st was 3.16 +/- 1.01 ml.cmH2O-1.kg-1. This study shows that, under relaxed conditions when measurements of static compliance are performed, the chest wall is more compliant than the lung. The measurement of Cw,st may thus be used to determine the contribution of the respiratory musculature in stabilizing the chest wall.

1995 ◽  
Vol 78 (1) ◽  
pp. 179-184 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Papastamelos ◽  
H. B. Panitch ◽  
S. E. England ◽  
J. L. Allen

Development of chest wall stiffness between infancy and adulthood has important consequences for respiratory system function. To test the hypothesis that there is substantial stiffening of the chest wall in the first few years of life, we measured passive chest wall compliance (Cw) in 40 sedated humans 2 wk-3.5 yr old. Respiratory muscles were relaxed with manual ventilation applied during the Mead-Whittenberger technique. Respiratory system compliance (Crs) and lung compliance (Cl) were calculated from airway opening pressure, transpulmonary pressure, and tidal volume. Cw was calculated as 1/Cw = 1/Crs - 1/Cl during manual ventilation. Mean Cw per kilogram in infants < 1 yr old was significantly higher than that in children > 1 yr old (2.80 +/- 0.87 vs. 2.04 +/- 0.51 ml.cmH2O–1.kg-1; P = 0.002). There was an inverse linear relationship between age and mean Cw per kilogram (r = -0.495, slope -0.037; P < 0.001). In subjects with normal Cl during spontaneous breathing, Cw/spontaneous Cl was 2.86 +/- 1.06 in infants < 1 yr old and 1.33 +/- 0.36 in older children (P = 0.005). We conclude that in infancy the chest wall is nearly three times as compliant as the lung and that by the 2nd year of life chest wall stiffness increases to the point that the chest wall and lung are nearly equally compliant, as in adulthood. Stiffening of the chest wall may play a major role in developmental changes in respiratory system function such as the ability to passively maintain resting lung volume and improved ventilatory efficiency afforded by reduced rib cage distortion.


1965 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 1211-1216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Mittman ◽  
Norman H. Edelman ◽  
Arthur H. Norris ◽  
Nathan W. Shock

Chest wall and pulmonary compliance were measured in 42 normal males aged 24—78 years. Measurements were made using the static method and the positive-pressure breathing method of Heaf and Prime. Chest wall compliance decreased significantly with age. Pulmonary compliance measured at functional residual capacity was similar in old and young subjects. As lung volume increased pulmonary compliance decreased more in the young than in the old. The latter age difference may result from a loss of lung elastic recoil in the elderly or may be due totally to the age difference in chest wall compliance. The observed age differences in lung compartment volumes can largely be accounted for by the decrease in chest wall compliance. aging; chest wall compliance; lung compliance; static measurement of compliance; positive-pressure measurement of compliance; lung volumes; residual volume Submitted on July 17, 1964


1977 ◽  
Vol 233 (6) ◽  
pp. H635-H641 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. M. Scharf ◽  
R. H. Ingram

In 12 anesthetized mongrel dogs on a constant volume ventilator, the response of the cardiovascular system to increasing positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) was examined before and after inducing acute lung injury with oleic acid. As PEEP was raised to approximately 16 mmHg, lung volume increased by approximately 900 ml before oleic acid and only 350 ml after. Pleural pressure increased by the same amount, indicating that both lung and chest wall compliance decreased with oleic acid. Right atrial pressure, the back pressure to venous return, also increased by the same amount. Although cardiac output at PEEP = 0 was lower after oleic acid, the relative decrements produced by increasing PEEP were the same as before oleic acid.


1987 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. Hantos ◽  
B. Daroczy ◽  
B. Suki ◽  
S. Nagy

modified forced oscillatory technique was used to determine the respiratory mechanical impedances in anesthetized, paralyzed rats between 0.25 and 10 Hz. From the total respiratory (Zrs) and pulmonary impedance (ZL), measured with pseudorandom oscillations applied at the airway opening before and after thoracotomy, respectively, the chest wall impedance (ZW) was calculated as ZW = Zrs - ZL. The pulmonary (RL) and chest wall resistances were both markedly frequency dependent: between 0.25 and 2 Hz they contributed equally to the total resistance falling from 81.4 +/- 18.3 (SD) at 0.25 Hz to 27.1 +/- 1.7 kPa.l–1 X s at 2 Hz. The pulmonary compliance (CL) decreased mildly, from 2.78 +/- 0.44 at 0.25 Hz to 2.36 +/- 0.39 ml/kPa at 2 Hz, and then increased at higher frequencies, whereas the chest wall compliance declined monotonously from 4.19 +/- 0.88 at 0.25 Hz to 1.93 +/- 0.14 ml/kPa at 10 Hz. Although the frequency dependence of ZW can be interpreted on the basis of parallel inhomogeneities alone, the sharp fall in RL together with the relatively constant CL suggests that at low frequencies significant losses are imposed by the non-Newtonian resistive properties of the lung tissue.


2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. A999
Author(s):  
GQ Chen ◽  
M Xu ◽  
XL Chen ◽  
N Rittayamai ◽  
M Kim ◽  
...  

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