The relationship of pulmonary vascular resistance and compliance to pulmonary artery wedge pressure during submaximal exercise in healthy older adults

摘要

Key points class="unordered" style="list-style-type:disc" id="tjp7157-list-0001">A consistent inverse hyperbolic relationship has been observed between pulmonary vascular resistance and compliance, although changes in pulmonary artery wedge pressure (PAWP) may modify this relationship.This relationship predicts that pulmonary artery systolic, diastolic and mean pressure maintain a consistent relationship relative to the PAWP.We show that, in healthy exercising human adults, both pulmonary vascular resistance and compliance decrease in relation to exercise‐associated increases in PAWP.Pulmonary artery systolic, diastolic and mean pressures maintain a consistent relationship with one another, increasing linearly with increasing PAWP.Increases in PAWP in the setting of exercise are directly related to a decrease in pulmonary vascular compliance, despite small decreases in pulmonary vascular resistance, thereby increasing the pulsatile afterload to the right ventricle.