Distribution of xenon gas exchange rates in dogs

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Abstract
The kinetics of Xe gas uptake and elimination in 7 anesthetized dogs were studied by simultaneous external recording of gas concentrations in several thousand anatomic sites during 7 h experiments. The data were analyzed by a previously described method of extracting moments of the distribution of gas residence times. Mean residence times (1st moment) varied by more than a factor of 50 within a single animal: the fastest exchange was in the lungs (under 2 min), and progressively slower exchange occurred in the brain, spinal cord, ears, peripheral joints and shoulder (over 2 h). Variance of the residence time (2nd moment) was approximated 4 times the mean residence time squared. This ratio was nearly the same throughout the body. Indications of unexpectedly high Xe solubility in the ear and joint regions were also found.