Elastic behavior and structure of normal and emphysematous lungs post mortem.
To examine the relationship between lung structure and function, static deflation pressure-volume curves were measured post mortem in 14 normal and 7 emphysematous lungs, and the results were compared to morphometric measurements of lung. Elastic behavior was described satisfactorily by an exponential function: V = A -Be-KP, where V is lung volume, P is static recoil pressure, and A, B, and K are constants. The constant K, an index of pulmonary elasticity, was closely related to a morphometric measurement of mean alveolar size. In normal lungs the decrease in pulmonary elasticity with age was quantified by an increase in K. When emphysema was present, K was invariably increased by more than 2 SD above the mean predicted value for age, reflecting the abnormally increased distensibility of alveoli in this disorder. The present findings indicate that a similar analysis of pressure-volume measurements obtained during life will reliably detect the presence of pulmonary emphysema in patients with chronic airflow limitation.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging; D001344:Autopsy; D004548:Elasticity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008170:Lung Compliance; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011650:Pulmonary Alveoli / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011656:Pulmonary Emphysema / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*