Effect of Cooling the Cervical Vagi on the Work of Breathing

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Intrathoracic pressures and tidal volumes were measured simultaneously in anesthetized dogs while the vagi were warm (intact) and cooled (blocked). Pressure-volume loops constructed from these tracings showed that both elastic and viscous work increased during vagal cooling. The magnitude of the increase in work per breath was such that respiratory work per minute also increased even though respiratory frequency was reduced. It is suggested that the regulation of depth and frequency of breathing by the respiratory center is less economical when afferent discharges from pulmonary receptors are blocked. Submitted on October 16, 1957

This publication has 5 references indexed in Scilit: