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J Appl Physiol 84: 1639-1645, 1998;
8750-7587/98 $5.00
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Vol. 84, Issue 5, 1639-1645, May 1998

Gravity effects on upper airway area and lung volumes during parabolic flight

Maurice Beaumont1, Redouane Fodil2, Daniel Isabey2, Frédéric Lofaso2, Dominique Touchard2, Alain Harf2, and Bruno Louis2

1 Laboratoire de Médecine Aérospatiale, Centre d'Essais en Vol, F-91228 Brétigny-sur-Orge Cedex; and 2 Unité de Physiologie Respiratoire, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale U492, F-94010 Créteil Cedex, France

We measured upper airway caliber and lung volumes in six normal subjects in the sitting and supine positions during 20-s periods in normogravity, hypergravity [1.8 + head-to-foot acceleration (Gz)], and microgravity (~0 Gz) induced by parabolic flights. Airway caliber and lung volumes were inferred by the acoustic reflection method and inductance plethysmography, respectively. In subjects in the sitting position, an increase in gravity from 0 to 1.8 +Gz was associated with increases in the calibers of the retrobasitongue and palatopharyngeal regions (+20 and +30%, respectively) and with a concomitant 0.5-liter increase in end-expiratory lung volume (functional residual capacity, FRC). In subjects in the supine position, no changes in the areas of these regions were observed, despite significant decreases in FRC from microgravity to normogravity (-0.6 liter) and from microgravity to hypergravity (-0.5 liter). Laryngeal narrowing also occurred in both positions (about -15%) when gravity increased from 0 to 1.8 +Gz. We concluded that variation in lung volume is insufficient to explain all upper airway caliber variation but that direct gravity effects on tissues surrounding the upper airway should be taken into account.

upper airway configuration; weightlessness; hypergravity


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