Ideal alveolar gas defined by modal gas exchange in ventilation-perfusion distributions

Under the three-compartment model of ventilation-perfusion ([Formula: see text]) scatter, Bohr-Enghoff calculation of alveolar deadspace fraction (VDA/VA) uses arterial CO₂ partial pressure measurement as an approximation of "ideal" alveolar CO₂ (ideal [Formula: see text]). However, this simplistic model suffers from several inconsistencies. Modeling of realistic physiological distributions of [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] instead suggests an alternative concept of "ideal" alveolar gas at the [Formula: see text] ratio where uptake or elimination rate of a gas is maximal. For alveolar-capillary partial pressure, this "modal" point equals the mean of expired alveolar and arterial partial pressures, regardless of [Formula: see text] scatter severity or overall [Formula: see text]. For example, modal ideal [Formula: see text] can be estimated from the following equation: [Formula: see text]Using a multicompartment computer model of log-normal distributions of [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], agreement of this estimate with the modal ideal [Formula: see text] located at the [Formula: see text] ratio of maximal compartmental [Formula: see text] was assessed across a wide range of severity of [Formula: see text] scatter and overall [Formula: see text] ratio. Agreement of VDA/VA for CO₂ from the Bohr equation using modal ideal PCO₂, with that using the estimated value was also assessed. Estimated modal ideal [Formula: see text] agreed closely with modal ideal [Formula: see text], intraclass correlation (ICC) > 99.9%. There was no significant difference between VDA/VA using either value for ideal [Formula: see text]. Modal ideal [Formula: see text] reflects a physiologically realistic concept of ideal alveolar gas where there is maximal gas exchange effectiveness in a physiological distribution of [Formula: see text], which is generalizable to any inert gas and is practical to estimate from arterial and end-expired CO₂ partial pressures.NEW & NOTEWORTHY The three-compartment model of lung ventilation-perfusion mismatch postulates definitive alveolar deadspace and "ideal gas" lung compartments, but these are, in fact, widely different for gases of different blood solubility. Physiologically realistic distributions of ventilation, perfusion, and gas exchange instead suggest an individual "ideal" ventilation-perfusion ratio for every gas, where its alveolar-capillary uptake or elimination rate is maximal (modal). For carbon dioxide, this "ideal" partial pressure is the mean of the arterial and end-tidal partial pressures.