Single-breath nitrogen washout; effects of alterations of lung volumes and elastic recoil.

Strapping of the chest causes decreased lung volumes and increased elastic recoil pressure. Such strapping was used in conjunction with single-breath nitrogen washout to study the effects of changes in these factors on the dynamics of the small airways. Studies consisted of simultaneous measurements of the quasistatic lung pressure-volume curve and single-breath nitrogen washout. Strapping caused significant reductions in all lung volumes and in lung compliance at 50 percent of the total lung capacity (TLC). The volume of phase 4 was not changed; however, the ratio of closing capacity to control TLC decreased from 29.9 +/- 6 percent to 24.2 +/- 4 percent with strapping (P less than 0.02). This observation indicates that the onset of closing volumes occurred at a lower absolute lung volume during strapping, compared with control. The closing pressure of 2.1 +/- 0.8 cm H2O was not altered by strapping of the chest. The slope of phase 3 of the single-breath nitrogen-washout test and the average alveolar concentration of nitrogen were increased during strapping. A similar phenomenon occurred in three subjects who performed the single-breath nitrogen-washout test following partial vital capacities. A reduction of the onset of closure of the airways without a change in closing pressure suggests that restrictions of the chest wall caused no change in mechanical properties of the small airways. Elevation of the slope of the alveolar plateau is probably due to exaggeration of the apex-to-base nitrogen difference consequent to the strapping-associated decreased lung and alveolar compliance.