Unilateral Pleuritis and Regional Lung Function

Abstract

The effects of unilateral pleuritis on the distribution of pulmonary blood flow and ventilation and on alveolar expansion, in both the involved and normal-appearing lung, were measured with radioactive xenon-133. Total blood flow and ventilation were reduced to the lung with pleural disease, but ventilation was decreased more than perfusion. The decrease in perfusion to the lung with pleural disease was more marked at lower lung volumes. Blood flow and ventilation were redistributed away from the lung base in the lung with pleural disease, and blood flow was also shifted away from the lung base in the contralateral lung. With a maximum inspiration from residual volume to total lung capacity, alveolar expansion was decreased, compared with that in normal lungs, both in the lung with pleural disease and in the contralateral lung. Unilateral pleuritis thus appears to affect the mechanical function of both lungs.