Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 4, 2026

Normothermic Negative Pressure Ventilation Ex Situ Lung Perfusion: Evaluation of Lung Function and Metabolism
Published on: February 14, 2022
How much lung ventilation is obtained with only chest-compression CPR?
L A Geddes1, A Rundell, M Otlewski
1Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, Purdue University, 206 S. Martin Jischke Drive, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2032, USA. geddes@ecn.purdue.edu
Abstract:
The objective of this 14-pig study was designed to determine the amount of lung ventilation obtainable by only rhythmic chest compression (100/min, 100 lbs). Tidal volume (TV), dead space (DS), and respiration rate (R) were measured with normal breathing and with rhythmic chest compression during ventricular fibrillation. The ratio of TV/DS was calculated in both cases. For normal breathing the ratio was 2.54 +/- 0.68; for chest compression breathing the ratio was 0.80 +/- 0.07. Minute alveolar ventilation (TV - DS)R was computed for both cases. With spontaneous breathing, the minute alveolar volume was 5.48 +/- 2.1 l/min. With only chest-compression breathing, the alveolar ventilation was -1.49 +/- 0.64 l/min. The negative minute alveolar volume and fractional ratio reveals that TV was less than the dead space indicating that chest-compression alone does not ventilate the lungs.
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