Diffusing capacity

The single-breath diffusing capacity test is the most common way to determine ${\displaystyle D_{L}}$.[1] The test is performed by having the subject blow out all of the air that they can, leaving only the residual lung volume of gas. The person then inhales a test gas mixture rapidly and completely, reaching the total lung capacity as nearly as possible. This test gas mixture contains a small amount of carbon monoxide (usually 0.3%) and a tracer gas that is freely distributed throughout the alveolar space but which doesn't cross the alveolar-capillary membrane. Helium and methane are two such gasses. The test gas is held in the lung for about 10 seconds during which time the CO (but not the tracer gas) continuously moves from the alveoli into the blood. Then the subject exhales.

The anatomy of the airways means inspired air must pass through the mouth, trachea, bronchi and bronchioles (anatomical dead space) before it gets to the alveoli where gas exchange will occur; on exhalation, alveolar gas must return along the same path, and so the exhaled sample will be purely alveolar only after a 500 to 1,000 ml of gas has been breathed out. While it is algebraically possible to approximate the effects of anatomy (the three-equation method[3]), disease states introduce considerable uncertainty to this approach. Instead, the first 500 to 1,000 ml of the expired gas is disregarded and the next portion which contain gas that has been in the alveoli is analyzed.[1] By analyzing the concentrations of carbon monoxide and inert gas in the inspired gas and in the exhaled gas, it is possible to calculate ${\displaystyle (D_{L_{CO}})}$ according to Equation 2. First, the rate at which CO is taken up by the lung is calculated according to:

${\displaystyle {\dot {V}}_{CO}={\frac {\Delta {[CO]}*V_{A}}{\Delta {t}}}}$ .

(4)

The pulmonary function equipment monitors the change in the concentration of CO that occurred during the breath hold, ${\displaystyle \Delta {[CO]}}$, and also records the time ${\displaystyle \Delta {t}}$.

The volume of the alveoli, ${\displaystyle V_{A}}$, is determined by the degree to which the tracer gas has been diluted by inhaling it into the lung.

Similarly,

${\displaystyle P_{A_{CO}}=V_{B}*F_{A_{CO_{O}}}}$ .

(5)

where

${\displaystyle F_{A_{CO_{O}}}}$ is the initial alveolar fractional CO concentration, as calculated by the dilution of the tracer gas.

${\displaystyle V_{B}}$ is the barometric pressure

Other methods that are not so widely used at present can measure the diffusing capacity. These include the steady state diffusing capacity that is performed during regular tidal breathing, or the rebreathing method that requires rebreathing from a reservoir of gas mixtures.

The diffusion capacity for oxygen ${\displaystyle (D_{L_{O_{2}}})}$ is the proportionality factor relating the rate of oxygen uptake into the lung to the oxygen gradient between the capillary blood and the alveoli (per Fick's laws of diffusion). In respiratory physiology, it is convenient to express the transport of gas molecules as changes in volume, since ${\displaystyle {V_{O_{2}}}\propto {n_{O_{2}}}}$ (i.e., in a gas, a volume is proportional to the number of molecules in it). Further, the oxygen concentration (partial pressure) in the pulmonary artery is taken to be representative of capillary blood. Thus, ${\displaystyle (D_{L_{O_{2}}})}$ can be calculated as the rate that oxygen is taken up by the lung ${\displaystyle ({\dot {V}}_{O_{2}})}$ divided by the oxygen gradient between the alveoli ("A") and the pulmonary artery ("a").

${\displaystyle D_{L_{O_{2}}}={\frac {{\dot {V}}_{O_{2}}}{P_{A_{O_{2}}}-P_{a_{O_{2}}}}}\simeq {\frac {{\dot {V}}_{O_{2}}}{P_{A_{O_{2}}}-P_{v_{O_{2}}}}}}$

(1)

(For ${\displaystyle {\dot {V}}}$, say "V dot". This is the notation of Isaac Newton for a first derivative (or rate) and is commonly used in respiratory physiology for this purpose.)

${\displaystyle {\dot {V}}_{O_{2}}}$ is the rate that oxygen is taken up by the lung (ml/min).

${\displaystyle P_{A_{O_{2}}}}$ is the partial pressure of oxygen in the alveoli.

${\displaystyle P_{a_{O_{2}}}}$ is the partial pressure of oxygen in the pulmonary artery.

${\displaystyle P_{v_{O_{2}}}}$ is the partial pressure of oxygen in the systemic veins (where it can actually be measured).

Thus, the higher the diffusing capacity ${\displaystyle D_{L}}$, the more gas will be transferred into the lung per unit time for a given gradient in partial pressure (or concentration) of the gas. Since it can be possible to know the alveolar oxygen concentration and the rate of oxygen uptake - but not the oxygen concentration in the pulmonary artery - it is the venous oxygen concentration that is generally employed as a useful approximation in a clinical setting.

Sampling the oxygen concentration in the pulmonary artery is a highly invasive procedure, but fortunately another similar gas can be used instead that obviates this need (DLCO). Carbon monoxide (CO) is tightly and rapidly bound to hemoglobin in the blood, so the partial pressure of CO in the capillaries is negligible and the second term in the denominator can be ignored. For this reason, CO is generally the test gas used to measure the diffusing capacity and the ${\displaystyle D_{L}}$ equation simplifies to:

${\displaystyle D_{L_{CO}}={\frac {{\dot {V}}_{CO}}{P_{A_{CO}}}}}$.

(2)

In general, a healthy individual has a value of ${\displaystyle D_{L_{CO}}}$ between 75% and 125% of the average.[4] However, individuals vary according to age, sex, height and a variety of other parameters. For this reason, reference values have been published, based on populations of healthy subjects[5][6][7] as well as measurements made at altitude,[8] for children[9] and some specific population groups.[10][11][12]

In one sense, it is remarkable that DL_CO has retained such clinical utility. The technique was invented to settle one of the great controversies of pulmonary physiology a century ago, namely the question of whether oxygen and the other gases were actively transported into and out of the blood by the lung, or whether gas molecules diffused passively.[18] Remarkable too is the fact that both sides used the technique to gain evidence for their respective hypotheses. To begin with, Christian Bohr invented the technique, using a protocol analogous to the steady state diffusion capacity for carbon monoxide, and concluded that oxygen was actively transported into the lung. His student, August Krogh developed the single breath diffusion capacity technique along with his wife Marie, and convincingly demonstrated that gasses diffuse passively,[19][20][21][22][23][24][25] a finding that led to the demonstration that capillaries in the blood were recruited into use as needed – a Nobel Prize–winning idea.[26]

• DLCO

• Mason RJ, Broaddus VC, Martin T, King T Jr., Schraufnagel D, Murray JF, Nadel JA. (2010) Textbook of Respiratory Medicine. 5e. ISBN 978-1-4160-4710-0.
• Ruppel, G. L. (2008) Manual of Pulmonary Function Testing. 9e. ISBN 978-0-323-05212-2.
• West, J. (2011) Respiratory Physiology: The Essentials. 9e. ISBN 978-1-60913-640-6.
• West, J. (2012) Pulmonary Pathophysiology: The Essentials. 8e. ISBN 978-1-4511-0713-5.

• Pulmonary+diffusing+capacity at the US National Library of Medicine Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
• MedlinePlus Encyclopedia: 003854
• American Association for Respiratory Care Clinical Practice Guidelines
• The American Physiological Society home page
• The American Thoracic Society home page
• The European Respiratory Society home page