Human esophageal pressures and chest wall configuration in upright and head-down posture

Pressures were measured at two levels in the esophagus in 14 young healthy subjects performing slow inspiratory and expiratory vital capacity (VC) maneuvers in upright and head-down posture (180 degrees body tilt). In both postures, a gravitational pressure gradient was found, which increased very slightly with decreasing lung volumes (0.006 cmH2O X % VC-1 X cm descent-1) except for upright expiratory curves above 60% VC. The expiratory pressure gradient tended to be larger in head-down than in upright posture; however, during inspiration the opposite was true. In both postures the pressure change between 100 and 20% VC was smaller in the uppermost zone, which is consistent with the smaller changes in alveolar expansion in this zone. Also, in seven of the subjects, changes in cross-sectional area of the middle and lower part of the rib cage (HRC and LRC) and of the abdomen (ABD) were measured by respiratory inductive plethysmography in upright and head-down posture. The ratio of HRC motion to LRC motion was constant throughout the VC and did not change with posture, yet the ratio of ABD motion to mean RC motion changed with overall volume and was also larger in head-down than in upright posture. In conclusion, the changes in esophageal pressure gradient during slow VC maneuvers in head-down vs. upright posture were not related to (and thus not caused by) changes in chest wall configuration.