Conducting airway gas exchange: diffusion-related differences in inert gas elimination

We studied CO2 and inert gas elimination in the isolated in situ trachea as a model of conducting airway gas exchange. Six inert gases with various solubilities and molecular weights (MW) were infused into the left atria of six pentobarbital-anesthetized dogs (group 1). The unidirectionally ventilated trachea behaved as a high ventilation-perfusion unit (ratio = 60) with no appreciable dead space. Excretion of higher-MW gases appeared to be depressed, suggesting a MW dependence to inert gas exchange. This was further explored in another six dogs (group 2) with three gases of nearly equal solubility but widely divergent MWs (acetylene, 26; Freon-22, 86.5; isoflurane, 184.5). Isoflurane and Freon-22 excretions were depressed 47 and 30%, respectively, relative to acetylene. In a theoretical model of airway gas exchange, neither a tissue nor a gas phase diffusion resistance predicted our results better than the standard equation for steady-state alveolar inert gas elimination. However, addition of a simple ln (MW) term reduced the remaining residual sum of squares by 40% in group 1 and by 83% in group 2. Despite this significant MW influence on tracheal gas exchange, we calculate that the quantitative gas exchange capacity of the conducting airways in total can account for less than or equal to 16% of any MW-dependent differences observed in pulmonary inert gas elimination.