Pulmonary compliance measurement in acute respiratory failure.

Many automatic devices to measure effective compliance can now be incorporated in mechanical ventilators. We compared measurements from these devices against those obtained from a pressure-volume curve made with a super-syringe. The methods produced closely correlating results (r = 0.854; p less than .001) in 20 adult patients with acute respiratory failure. Both techniques provide useful information about the elastic properties of the lung and can be used to adjust mechanical ventilation.