kalibonite
Forum Junior
Topics: 21
Posts: 37
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A Patient presented at a hospital with thickened alveolo-capillary barrier. However initial investigations revealed that the partial pressure of Carbon Dioxide was fairly normal but that of Oxygen was remarkably reduced. Explain?
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| meg
Forum Guru
Topics: 62
Posts: 806
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Is it because Carbon dioxide is more soluble than oxygen, crosses the barrier better than oxygen?
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| asmi
Forum Hero
Topics: 1043
Posts: 4,609
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oxygen diffusion is restricted b' of increased diffusion distance(thickened alv. membrane)----> gas doesnot equilibrate by the time blood reaches end of pulmonary capillary.
Oxygen is both perfusion limited gas and diffusion limited gas.
whereas CO2 is only perfusion limited gas.
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| asmi
Forum Hero
Topics: 1043
Posts: 4,609
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:oops: i guess i didn't gave a good explanation.
sorry!
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| kalibonite
Forum Junior
Topics: 21
Posts: 37
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I agree, but you should have made explicit the fact that Carbon Dioxide has high lipid solubility. Hence crosses the bilipid layer of the membrane quicker.
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