Chapter 22 Study Guide

1. Know what structure aids to route air and food into the proper channels
The three functions of the larynx are:
a. To provide a patent airway
b. To act as a switching mechanism to route air and food into the proper channels
c. To function in voice production
2. Know which cells in the lungs secrete surfactant and know the function of the
surfactant.
Type II cells secrete surfactant
Surfactant, a detergent-like complex, reduces surface tension and helps keep the alveoli
from collapsing
3. Know the definition of intrapulmonary pressure.
Intrapulmonary pressure (Ppul) pressure within the alveoli
Intrapulmonary pressure and intrapleural pressure fluctuate with the phases of breathing
Intrapulmonary pressure always eventually equalizes itself with atmospheric pressure
4. Know how gas exchange occurs and the necessary thickness of respiratory
membrane needed for efficiency.
Respiratory membranes:
a. Are only 0.5 to 1 m thick, allowing for efficient gas exchange
b. Have a total surface area (in males) of about 60 m2 (40 times that of ones skin)
c. Thicken if lungs become waterlogged and edematous, whereby gas exchange is
inadequate and oxygen deprivation results
d. Decrease in surface area with emphysema, when walls of adjacent alveoli break
through
The atmosphere is mostly oxygen and nitrogen, while alveoli contain more carbon
dioxide and water vapor
These differences result from:
e. Gas exchanges in the lungs oxygen diffuses from the alveoli and carbon dioxide
diffuses into the alveoli
f. Humidification of air by conducting passages
g. The mixing of alveolar gas that occurs with each breath
Factors influencing the movement of oxygen and carbon dioxide across the respiratory
membrane
a. Partial pressure gradients and gas solubilities
b. Matching of alveolar ventilation and pulmonary blood perfusion
c. Structural characteristics of the respiratory membrane

The partial pressure oxygen (PO2) of venous blood is 40 mm Hg; the partial pressure in the
alveoli is 104 mm Hg

a. This steep gradient allows oxygen partial pressures to rapidly reach

equilibrium (in 0.25 seconds), and thus blood can move three times as
quickly (0.75 seconds) through the pulmonary capillary and still be
adequately oxygenated
Although carbon dioxide has a lower partial pressure gradient:
b. It is 20 times more soluble in plasma than oxygen
c. It diffuses in equal amounts with oxygen

5. Know what creates the most powerful respiratory stimulus.

Arterial oxygen levels are monitored by the aortic and carotid bodies

Substantial drops in arterial PO2 (to 60 mm Hg) are needed before oxygen levels become a
major stimulus for increased ventilation
If carbon dioxide is not removed (e.g., as in emphysema and chronic bronchitis),
chemoreceptors become unresponsive to PCO2 chemical stimuli
In such cases, PO2 levels become the principal respiratory stimulus (hypoxic drive)

6. Know what hypoxia means as well as its possible causes.

When your body doesn't have enough oxygen, you could gethypoxemia or hypoxia.
A severe asthma attack, or flare, can cause hypoxia in adults and kids. During an attack,
your airways narrow, making it hard to get air into your lungs. Coughing to clear your
lungs uses even more oxygen and can make symptoms worse.
Other things can cause hypoxia, too:
Lung diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease(COPD), emphysema, bronchitis, and pulmonary edema (fluid in the lungs)
Strong pain medicines and other drugs that hold back breathing
Heart problems

Anemia (a low number of red blood cells, which carry oxygen)

Cyanide poisoning (Cyanide is a chemical used to make plastics and other products.)

7. Know the structures of the lungs as well as the differences between left and right
lung.

Lungs occupy all of the thoracic cavity except the mediastinum

Root site of vascular and bronchial attachments
Costal surface anterior, lateral, and posterior surfaces in contact with the ribs
Apex narrow superior tip
Base inferior surface that rests on the diaphragm
Hilus indentation that contains pulmonary and systemic blood vessels

Cardiac notch (impression) cavity that accommodates the heart

Left lung separated into upper and lower lobes by the oblique fissure
Right lung separated into three lobes by the oblique and horizontal fissures
There are 10 bronchopulmonary segments in each lung
Lungs are perfused by two circulations: pulmonary and bronchial
Pulmonary arteries supply systemic venous blood to be oxygenated
Branch profusely, along with bronchi
Ultimately feed into the pulmonary capillary network surrounding the alveoli
Pulmonary veins carry oxygenated blood from respiratory zones to the heart
Bronchial arteries provide systemic blood to the lung tissue
Arise from aorta and enter the lungs at the hilus
Supply all lung tissue except the alveoli
Bronchial veins anastomose with pulmonary veins
Pulmonary veins carry most venous blood back to the heart

8. Know what structure provides the largest surface area for gas exchange.

Respiratory Zone
Defined by the presence of alveoli; begins as terminal bronchioles feed into respiratory
bronchioles
Respiratory bronchioles lead to alveolar ducts, then to terminal clusters of alveolar sacs
composed of alveoli
Approximately 300 million alveoli:
a. Account for most of the lungs volume
b. Provide tremendous surface area for gas exchange
9. Know the different zones of the respiratory system.
Respiratory zone:
a. Site of gas exchange
b. Consists of bronchioles, alveolar ducts, and alveoli
Conducting zone:
c. Conduits for air to reach the sites of gas exchange
d. Includes all other respiratory structures (e.g., nose, nasal cavity, pharynx, trachea)

10. Know the function of the nose.

The only externally visible part of the respiratory system that functions by:
a. Providing an airway for respiration
b. Moistening and warming the entering air
c. Filtering inspired air and cleaning it of foreign matter
d. Serving as a resonating chamber for speech
e. Housing the olfactory receptors
Nose is divided into two regions:
f. External nose, including the root, bridge, dorsum nasi, and apex
g. Internal nasal cavity
Philtrum a shallow vertical groove inferior to the apex
The external nares (nostrils) are bounded laterally by the alae
11. Know Boyles and Daltons laws.
Daltons Law of Partial Pressures
Total pressure exerted by a mixture of gases is the sum of the pressures exerted
independently by each gas in the mixture
The partial pressure of each gas is directly proportional to its percentage in the mixture
NOSE TUTORIAL
RESPIRATORY SYSTEM
TURBINATE TUTORIAL
FORUM
NASAL SURGERY BOOK
DEUTSCHE VERSION
You are here: Home / Respiratory System / The Mechanics Of Breathing
The Mechanics Of Breathing
Boyles Law: The pressure of a given quantity of gas is inversely proportional to its
volume. Increasing volume results in decreasing pressure. Decreasing volume results in

Increasing pressure. Increasing volume causes a decrease in pressure which causes air to
rush in as the pressures reached equilibrium. Decreasing volume causes an increase in
pressure which causes air to expelled as pressures reached equilibrium. The mechanics
of breathing involve changing the volume and pressure of the thoracic cavity. By using
the principles of Boils law, one can see that the pressure in the thoracic cavity is
inversely proportional to its volume. When the intercostals muscles contract the ribs are
elevated. At the same time the diaphragm contracts. These events expand the thoracic
cavity, decreasing its internal pressure. The lungs expand, filling the thoracic cavity. The
resulting pressure in the lungs is lower than that outside the body. Air enters the lungs
until equilibrium is reached. When the diaphragm and the intercostals muscles relax the
thoracic cavity recoils. The resulting increase in pressure cause the air within the lungs to
be expelled.
12. Know the various types of lung cancer. P.872
Accounts for 1/3 of all cancer deaths in the U.S.
90% of all patients with lung cancer were smokers
The three most common types are:
a. Squamous cell carcinoma (20-40% of cases) arises in bronchial epithelium
b. Adenocarcinoma (25-35% of cases) originates in peripheral lung area
c. Small cell carcinoma (20-25% of cases) contains lymphocyte-like cells that
originate in the primary bronchi and subsequently metastasize
13. Be able to describe emphysema. P.871
Emphysema Overview
Patient CommentsRead 23 CommentsShare Your Story
Emphysema is a long-term, progressive disease of thelungs that primarily causes
shortness of breath due to over-inflation of the alveoli (air sacs in the lung). In people
with emphysema, the lung tissue involved in exchange of gases (oxygen and carbon
dioxide) is impaired or destroyed. Emphysema is included in a group of diseases
called chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or COPD(pulmonary refers to the lungs).
Emphysema is called an obstructive lung disease because airflow on exhalation is slowed
or stopped because over-inflated alveoli do not exchange gases when a person breaths
due to little or no movement of gases out of the alveoli.
Emphysema changes the anatomy of the lung in several important ways. This is due to in
part to the destruction of lung tissue around smaller airways. This tissue normally holds
these small airways, calledbronchioles, open, allowing air to leave the lungs on
exhalation. When this tissue is damaged, these airways collapse, making it difficult for
the lungs to empty and the air (gases) becomes trapped in the alveoli.
Normal lung tissue looks like a new sponge. Emphysematous lung looks like an old used
sponge, with large holes and a dramatic loss of springy-ness or elasticity. When the
lung is stretched during inflation (inhalation), the nature of the stretched tissue wants to
relax to its resting state. In emphysema, this elastic function is impaired, resulting in air
trapping in the lungs. Emphysema destroys this spongy tissue of the lung and also
severely affects the small blood vessels (capillaries of the lung) and airways that run
throughout the lung. Thus, not only is airflow affected but so is blood flow. This has

dramatic impact on the ability for the lung not only to empty its air sacs called alveoli
(pleural for alveolus) but also for blood to flow through the lungs to receive oxygen.
COPD as a group of diseases is one of the leading causes of death in the United States.
Unlike heart disease and other more common causes of death, the death rate
for COPD appears to be rising
14. Be able to describe the difference between pitch and loudness in sound production.

Pitch determined by the length and tension of the vocal cords

Loudness depends upon the force at which the air rushes across the vocal cords

15. Be able to identify the various major structures of the respiratory system. (Fig. 22.1)