title: Recent advances in pulmonary gas exchange.
abstract: Abnormal gas exchange frequently accompanies general anesthesia, and the mechanisms are probably variable and multiple. This chapter has focused on recent advances in both experimental and theoretical approaches to gas exchange in general, with emphasis on the potentially important areas for the anesthesiologist wishing to study gas during anesthesia. Experimentally it is clear that if complex multifactorial mechanisms of abnormal gas exchange are to be described, methods must developed that give significantly more information than is available by standard techniques. Even while such methods are beginning to appear, it is probable that even the most sophisticated of approaches cannot give all of the fine detail one might seek, and that critical evaluation of just what information can be obtained is of great importance. Notwithstanding the practical limitations of such methods, much can be gained by taking advantage of digital computer models of the lung. In only ten years since such models were first introduced, the understanding of complex interactions in pulmonary gas exchange has certainly exceeded the sum of previous knowledge in this area and has allowed clear-cut conclusions of fundamental importance to be reached.
mesh_terms: D000758:Anesthesia; D002302:Cardiac Output; D003201:Computers; D006454:Hemoglobins; D006801:Humans; D000860:Hypoxia / Q000503:physiopathology; D008954:Models, Biological; D005741:Noble Gases; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood*; D010108:Oxyhemoglobins / Q000502:physiology; D011650:Pulmonary Alveoli / Q000502:physiology*; D012119:Respiration; D014692:Ventilation-Perfusion Ratio
chemical_list: D006454:Hemoglobins; D005741:Noble Gases; D010108:Oxyhemoglobins; D010100:Oxygen