Influence of gas composition on convective and diffusive intrapulmonary gas transport

The influence of gas composition on convective and diffusive gas transport in the lungs was assessed by studying the dispersion of combined particle and argon (Ar) boluses induced by the passage through the lungs filled with three different gas mixtures. Particles, as a "nondiffusing gas," served as a tracer for convective gas transport, while the significance of diffusive gas transport was inferred from the difference in the behavior of Ar and particles. The lungs of six anesthetized and mechanically ventilated beagle dogs were equilibrated with air or either of the test atmospheres, He-O2 or SF6-O2, where nitrogen was replaced by helium (He) or sulfur hexafluoride (SF6). Due to differences in gas density and gas viscosity Reynolds numbers varied by a factor of twelve and Ar diffusivity by a factor of four between He-O2 and SF6-O2, suggesting that both kinds of intrapulmonary gas transport, convection and diffusion, should be affected. Combined particle and Ar boluses were inhaled into various lung depths and the extent of gas transport was inferred from changes in bolus shape induced by the passage through the lungs. In air, convective bulk gas transport generally followed the symmetric first-in, last-out principle and acted at all tested lung depths. Within the conducting airways, gas transport to the lung periphery was primarily due to convection but beyond these airways diffusion became rapidly significant. Breathing test atmospheres affects intrapulmonary gas transport only slightly. The extent of convective mixing was increased by 4% in SF6-O2 (p < .01) and reduced by 5% in He-O2 (p < .01) as compared to air. The symmetry of convective lung filling and emptying was slightly disturbed. In SF6-O2 the mean of the exhaled bolus was shifted by 8% toward the lung periphery. In He-O2 it was shifted by 4% toward the airway opening. In both test atmospheres exhaled Ar boluses were similar, suggesting that diffusive gas transport overwhelms the small changes in convective gas transport. Hence, factors other than gas composition-related flow characteristics, e.g., nonreversibility of in- and expiratory flow profiles or features of lung geometry, are the major determinants of gas transport in the lungs.