Estimating central and peripheral respiratory resistance.

An analytic approach for fractionating total respiratory resistance into central (Rc) and peripheral (Rp) components is presented. In the analysis, linear regression equations relating the logarithm of the measured total resistance to the logarithm of frequency are derived for data spanning the frequency range 1-16 Hz. The computed slope and intercept are used to obtain estimates of the fraction of the resistance in the periphery (Fp) and of Rp and Rc. Data from anesthetized, closed-chested dogs in a control state and with an external resistor (1.37 cmH2O.1-1.s) were used to test the approach. Mean values +/- SE's for control data were: Fp = 0.400 +/- 0.039, Rp = 1.37 +/- 0.16 cm H2O.1-1.s, and Rc = 1.98 +/- 0.10 cmH2O.1-1.s. Mean values of Rp obtained with and without added resistance were not significantly different (P less than 0.1). The increase in the mean values of Rc represented 85% of the value of the added resistance but was significantly different from the known value of the external resistance (P less than 0.05). These data suggest that it may be possible to fractionate total respiratory resistance into central and peripheral components using the frequency dependence of forced oscillatory resistance.