Core Concepts & Alveoli
The mechanical movement of air into and out of the lungs and airways.
What is ventilation?
Characterized by symptoms > 2 days per week and an FEV1 > 80%, this classification of asthma requires minimal short-acting beta-agonist use.
What is intermittent asthma?
A patient presenting with a chronic productive cough, cyanosis, peripheral edema, and auscultated rhonchi or wheezing is displaying the classic clinical picture of this specific COPD phenotype.
What is chronic bronchitis (or "blue bloater")?
In blood gas interpretation, a pH reading below 7.35 indicates this general condition.
What is acidosis?
Occurring when a thrombus occludes a pulmonary artery, this condition causes dead-space ventilation (ventilation without perfusion).
What is a pulmonary embolism (PE)?
This process refers to the flow of blood through pulmonary capillaries, enabling gas exchange with ventilated alveoli.
What is perfusion?
This short-acting beta-2 agonist (SABA) is used as a rescue medication during acute bronchospasms, but can cause tachycardia and tremors.
What is Albuterol?
This primary anti-tubercular drug acts by inhibiting mycolic acid synthesis in the mycobacterial cell wall.
What is Isoniazid (INH)?
When analyzing an arterial blood gas (ABG), a primary respiratory problem is identified because pH and PaCO2 move in these directions relative to each other.
What are opposite directions?
Tracheal deviation away from the affected side, hypotension, and jugular venous distension (JVD) are hallmark signs of this life-threatening emergency.
What is a tension pneumothorax?
Occurring in conditions like atelectasis or pneumonia, this phenomenon happens when blood bypasses ventilated alveoli without picking up oxygen.
What is shunting (physiologic causes)?
Patients taking inhaled corticosteroids like Beclomethasone must rinse their mouths and gargle after administration to prevent this fungal infection.
What is oropharyngeal candidiasis (thrush)?
This breathing technique creates end-expiratory positive pressure to prevent premature airway collapse in COPD patients.
What is pursed-lip breathing?
An ABG where pH is abnormal, but both PaCO2 and HCO3 are abnormal in an attempt to restore balance, is described as this state of compensation.
What is partially compensated?
This progressive condition is defined as a mean pulmonary artery pressure greater than 20mmHg at rest, leading to right ventricular hypertrophy.
What is pulmonary hypertension?
These cuboidal cells inside the lungs are responsible for synthesizing and secreting surfactant.
What are Type II alveolar cells?
Blockage of the airway caused by foreign bodies, tissue collapse, or angioedema often produces this high-pitched sound heard during inspiration.
What is stridor?
A Pulmonary Function Test (PFT) confirms COPD when the post-bronchodilator FEV1/FVC ratio drops below this percentage.
What is 70%?
Normal arterial blood gas values for PaCO2 range between these two numbers in mmHg.
What is 35 - 45mmHg?
Excessive accumulation of fluid in the pleural space that causes dullness to percussion and decreased breath sounds is called this.
What is a pleural effusion?
Surfactant prevents alveolar collapse during expiration and increases lung compliance by lowering this specific force.
What is surface tension?
In acute asthma, the combination of mucosal edema, smooth muscle constriction, and hypersecretion of mucus causes airway resistance that ultimately leads to this pathophysiologic state in the downstream alveoli.
What is alveolar hyperinflation (or air trapping)?
In emphysema, chronic exposure to toxins leads to tissue destruction that specifically affects these two structural components of the distal respiratory tract, resulting in loss of elastic recoil.
What are alveolar walls and capillary beds?
In chronic hypoxemia secondary to persistent respiratory compensation, the kidney signals the bone marrow to initiate this cellular compensatory response.
What is polycythemia (or increased red blood cell production via erythropoietin)?
Characterized by non-caseating granulomas in multiple organs, this systemic inflammatory disease most commonly affects the lungs and mediastinal lymph nodes.
What is sarcoidosis?