title: Lung centroid pressure in immersed man.
abstract: Upright immersion imposes a pressure imbalance between alveolar and mean external thoracic pressure. Lung centroid pressure (PLC) is defined as the breathing pressure required to remove this imbalance. Static transrespiratory pressure-volume relationships were determined in subjects immersed in upright (n = 17) and prone (n = 13) postures. Compliances measured during immersion (1.87 +/- 0.15 liter.kPa-1 upright, 1.87 +/- 0.17 liter.kPa-1) prone) were compared with compliances, obtained over the same volume range, while upright in air (1.84 +/- 0.17 liter.kPa-1). PLC was determined by the horizontal (pressure) displacement of immersed compliance curves. PLC was calculated to be +1.33 +/- 0.11 kPa (+13.6 cmH2O) relative to the sternal notch when upright and -0.69 +/- 0.12 kPa (-7.0 cmH2O) relative to the sternal plane when prone (mean +/- SEM). Upright PLC did not support the widely used value of +19 cmH2O (Jarrett AS. J Appl Physiol 1965;20:1261-1266). Analysis shows that when data from earlier investigations were adjusted for differences in reference pressure, the collective PLC supports the present results.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Physical Education, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
authors.forename: N A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Morrison
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D006801:Humans; D006874:Hydrostatic Pressure; D007101:Immersion / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008168:Lung / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008170:Lung Compliance; D008176:Lung Volume Measurements; D008297:Male; D011312:Pressure