What does lung compliance measure?

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Multiple Choice

What does lung compliance measure?

Lung compliance measures how easily the lungs expand when pressure is applied. It’s the change in volume per unit change in transpulmonary pressure (ΔV/ΔP), so a high compliance means the lungs expand readily with a small pressure change, while low compliance means they are stiff and require more pressure to achieve the same expansion. This concept captures the distensibility of lung tissue and the influence of elastic recoil and surface tension. This isn’t about the total air the lungs can hold (that’s lung capacity), nor about the rate of gas exchange across the alveolar membrane (diffusion), nor about how many alveoli are present.

Lung compliance measures how easily the lungs expand when pressure is applied. It’s the change in volume per unit change in transpulmonary pressure (ΔV/ΔP), so a high compliance means the lungs expand readily with a small pressure change, while low compliance means they are stiff and require more pressure to achieve the same expansion. This concept captures the distensibility of lung tissue and the influence of elastic recoil and surface tension.

This isn’t about the total air the lungs can hold (that’s lung capacity), nor about the rate of gas exchange across the alveolar membrane (diffusion), nor about how many alveoli are present.

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