Lung volumes in man immersed to the neck: dilution and plethysmographic techniques

Previous studies of lung volumes during immersion have utilized dilution techniques for residual volume. We have compared lung volumes obtained by the use of a dual inert gas dilution technique with those determined by the Boyle's law technique in a plethysmograph designed to allow measurements in air and submersed to the neck in water. Both techniques gave similar results dry, but during immersion the dilution residual volume (RV) was 0.200 liter (16%) lower than the plethysmographic value (P greater than 0.001), which suggests that there is a significant amount of gas trapping during immersion due to breathing at low lung volumes and the central shift of blood. The unchanged RV due to hydrostatic force on the chest wall is balanced by the tendency to increase RV due to vascular congestion, which increases closing volume and stiffens the lung to compression.