PCO2 - ITS RELATION TO ALVEOLAR VENTILATION AND CARBON DIOXIDE PRODUCTION
Although minute ventilation (VE) is easily measured, it does not provide sufficient information for assessing the adequacy of alveolar ventilation (VA), the component that affects gas exchange. The tidal volume and the respiratory rate do not give any clue as to how much air is ventilating dead space vs. alveolar space. Even if dead space ventilation (VD) and VA were measurable, the measurements would not indicate how much carbon dioxide was being produced in the body or how much VA was necessary to eliminate the carbon dioxide production.
The clinically important information can be obtained by measuring the partial pressure of carbon dioxide in the arterial blood (PaCO2); PaCO2 is the only blood gas measurement that provides information on VA. Furthermore, PaCO2 states directly, with one number, the relationship of VA to carbon dioxide production, at least at the time the sample is taken.
To understand why this is so, consider what happens to carbon dioxide in the body (Fig. 42). Carbon dioxide is a byproduct of food metabolism. Toxic in large amounts, carbon dioxide is literally a waste product that must be eliminated for the body to function normally. However, carbon dioxide is also a component of the bicarbonate buffer system, the largest of the blood buffers, and hence is an important determinant of acidbase balance. Furthermore, PaCO2 is one determinant of arterial oxygen pressure (PaO2) and hence plays a role in oxygenation (shown by the alveolar gas equation, discussed in Chapter 5). Not only must carbon dioxide from metabolism be continually eliminated, but the body must also maintain a certain level of carbon dioxide in the blood.
Fig. 42. Production, transport, and excretion of carbon dioxide in the lungs and circulation. Carbon dioxide, a byproduct of metabolism, is transported in three forms: dissolved (Diss.), bound to hemoglobin and other proteins (Carb.), and as bicarbonate (HCO3). Only the dissolved fraction exerts a partial pressure. Partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PCO2) values are in mm Hg; all other values represent the volume of carbon dioxide in whole blood (ml CO,/100 ml). Approximately 5 ml CO2/100 ml are excreted per minute. Venous admixture represents all normal physiologic shunting. (PvCO2, and PaCO2, mixed venous and arterial PCO., respectively; RA, right atrium; RV, right ventricle; PA, pulmonary arteries; PV, pulmonary veins; LA, left atrium; LV, left ventricle.)
The total amount of carbon dioxide transported in the body is approximately 49 ml CO2/100 ml for arterial blood and 54 ml CO2/100 ml for venous blood (Fig. 42). Carbon dioxide is transported in the blood in three forms: as bicarbonate (the greatest amount), combined with hemoglobin and other proteins (carbamino compounds), dissolved. These three forms of CO2 are in equilibrium with one another, and it is the dissolved fraction in plasma that exerts the partial pressure measured as PaCO2. Normal PaCO2 ranges between 36 and 44 mm Hg; mixed venous partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PvCO2) is approximately 6 mm Hg higher.
At rest, the averagesized adult produces approximately 200 ml of carbon dioxide per minute (Fig. 42). Carbon dioxide production (VCO2) is of course a continuous process, as is oxygen consumption. VCO2 increases during exercise and declines slightly during sleep. On the average, 288 L of carbon dioxide are produced per day (1440 min x 200 ml CO2/min). That's a lot of CO2! How is this huge load eliminated while a normal PaCO2 is maintained?
Carbon dioxide elimination is accomplished by bringing fresh air into the lungs; there is no other way to excrete the body's CO2 production. (A minuscule amount of carbon dioxide, less than 1%, is excreted by the kidneys as bicarbonate.)
In the lungs, fresh air is brought in close proximity to the pulmonary capillaries, where it is separated from the mixed venous blood by a thin, gaspermeable alveolarcapillary membrane (see Chapter 1). Fresh air contains almost no carbon dioxide when it is first inhaled. In the alveoli, the partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PACO2) is practically the same as PaCO2, whatever the latter's value. Carbon dioxide is transferred across the alveolarcapillary membrane by virtue of a pressure gradient that exists between mixed venous PCO2 and alveolar PCO2, (normally 46 mm Hg and 40 mm Hg, respectively). Carbon dioxide that enters the alveolar spaces is exhaled during breathing. In a steady state, the amount of carbon dioxide produced from metabolism equals the amount eliminated by the lungs.
One of the most important physiologic relationships in all of clinical medicine can now be derived: that between PCO2 and VA. Because dead space does not take part in gas exchange, all of the expired carbon dioxide comes from the alveolar gas. Thus the amount of VCO2 excreted by the lungs equals VA times the fraction of alveolar carbon dioxide (FACO2):
(Eqn 4-3)
Since PACO2= FACO2 times total alveolar gas pressure,
(Eqn 4-4)
where K is a constant that takes into account the different units as well as the conversion of FACO2 to PACO2; 1/K has the value 0.863. Rearranging,
(Eqn 4-5)
Equation 5 expresses the relationship between alveolar PCO2 and VA. Because carbon dioxide is a highly diffusible gas, alveolar PCO2 is assumed to be equal to arterial PCO2. Also, in the steady state, carbon dioxide excreted by the lungs equals that produced from metabolism. With these relationships in mind, it will be useful to conceptually derive Equation 5 for arterial PCO2.
Assume that carbon dioxide production is constant at 200 ml/min. Without alveolar ventilation, carbon dioxide will build up in the blood since there is no other way to eliminate it; as a result, severe acidity and death will quickly follow. The same thing will happen if there is just a small amount of VA; carbon dioxide builds up, although not quite as fast as when there is no VA.
Conversely, if VA exceeds its normal amount, excessive carbon dioxide is eliminated from the blood and PaCO2 falls. Thus as long as VCO2 is constant, PaCO2 is inversely related to the amount of VA:
(Eqn 4-6)