HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 104/5/1402    most recent 00439.2007v1 Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Google Scholar Articles by Ryan, K. L. Articles by Convertino, V. A. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Ryan, K. L. Articles by Convertino, V. A.

Breathing through an inspiratory threshold device improves stroke volume during central hypovolemia in humans

¹United States Army Institute of Surgical Research, Fort Sam Houston, Texas; ²The University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas; and ³Advanced Circulatory Systems, Inc., Eden Prairie, Minnesota and Department of Emergency Medicine, Hennepin County Medical Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Submitted 23 April 2007 ; accepted in final form 22 February 2008

Inspiratory resistance induced by breathing through an impedance threshold device (ITD) reduces intrathoracic pressure and increases stroke volume (SV) in supine normovolemic humans. We hypothesized that breathing through an ITD would also be associated with a protection of SV and a subsequent increase in the tolerance to progressive central hypovolemia. Eight volunteers (5 men, 3 women) were instrumented to record ECG and beat-by-beat arterial pressure and SV (Finometer). Tolerance to progressive lower body negative pressure (LBNP) was assessed while subjects breathed against either 0 (sham ITD) or –7 cmH₂O inspiratory resistance (active ITD); experiments were performed on separate days. Because the active ITD increased LBNP tolerance time from 2,014 ± 106 to 2,259 ± 138 s (P = 0.006), data were analyzed (time and frequency domains) under both conditions at the time at which cardiovascular collapse occurred during the sham experiment to determine the mechanisms underlying this protective effect. At this time point, arterial blood pressure, SV, and cardiac output were higher (P 0.005) when breathing on the active ITD rather than the sham ITD, whereas indirect indicators of autonomic activity (low- and high-frequency oscillations of the R-to-R interval) were not altered. ITD breathing did not alter the transfer function between systolic arterial pressure and R-to-R interval, indicating that integrated baroreflex sensitivity was similar between the two conditions. These data show that breathing against inspiratory resistance increases tolerance to progressive central hypovolemia by better maintaining SV, cardiac output, and arterial blood pressures via primarily mechanical rather than neural mechanisms.

lower body negative pressure; hypotension; inspiratory resistance