Intrapulmonary exchange of the stable isotope ¹⁸O₂ injected intravenously in man

¹ Cardiopulmonary Laboratory of the Columbia Medical Division of Bellevue Hospital and the Department of Medicine, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York City

The stable isotope ¹⁸O₂ was used to study the exchange of oxygen molecules between pulmonary capillary blood and alveolar gas in 16 patients with either normal lungs or limited lung disease. The technique entailed combining gaseous ¹⁸O₂ with blood, then mixing the blood anaerobically with saline containing T-1824 dye and ⁸⁵Kr in solution. After the combination of tracers had been injected into a vein, arterial blood was collected during the first passage of the indicators through the central circulation. Recoveries of the tracer gases were expressed as percentages of the amounts that would have been found had no loss from the blood stream occurred. The recoveries of ¹⁸O₂ were related to the oxygen concentration in the inspired gas, and averaged 55, 40, and 11% at inspired concentrations of 14, 21, and 65%, respectively. The recovery of ⁸⁵Kr was about 2%, and was independent of the inspired oxygen concentration. These results were compared to those predicted in a theoretical model, and found to agree satisfactorily.

Submitted on October 2, 1964

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