The effect of high lung conductivity on electrocardiographic potentials. Results from human subjects undergoing bronchopulmonary lavage.

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Abstract
The effect of increased lung conductivity on ECG potentials was studied in human subjects undergoing pulmonary lavage of a whole lung. In this procedure, the air in the lung is replaced by physiologic saline solution, which is a highly conductive fluid. The same situation was simulated theoretically with an eccentric spherical model of the heart and torso. Both the experimental results and theoretical simulations show a decrease in body-surface potentials as the lung conductivity increases. In particular, a large decrease was observed in the posterior vector and the scalar Z lead both experimentally and theoretically. The model simulation shows that the scalar Z lead is maximal at a conductivity value that is very close to the typical normal lung conductivity, so that low voltages are predicted for low lung conductivities as well.