Inhomogeneities of ventilation and the diffusing capacity to perfusion in various chronic lung diseases

摘要

Although impairment of gas exchange caused by ventilation-perfusion (V_A/Q) mismatch has been extensively analyzed, there have been no systematic studies focused on determining the distributions of diffusion properties in close connection with those of V_A/Q. We attempted to clarify the simulta- neous distributions oif V_A/Q and diffusion capacity to perfusion (D/Q) in patients with idiopathic pul- monary fibrosis (IPF) or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).