The condition pulmonary edema, in which fluid collects around alveoli, increases

Question

The condition pulmonary edema, in which fluid collects around alveoli, increases the thickness of the respirato uld have on the efficiency of gas exchange. Explain your reasoning. 3 When a patient has a procedure called a tracheostomy, a hole is cut into the trachea and a tube is inserted through which the patient breathes. This allows the air to bypass the upper respiratory tract and enter the trachea directly. Could this have potential negative consequences for the patient? Explain. (Hint: Consider the function of the nasal cavity and other upper airways.) 4 A pulmonary embolus is a piece of a blood clot, adipose tissue, or other substance that lodge s somewhere i

Explanation / Answer

Ans 2:

In pulmonary Oedema the secretions in the alveoli of lungs Increases which increases the thickness of alveolar membrane. As gaseous exchange takes place at alveolar level the thickness of alveolar membrane DECREASES the gaseous exchange. This can be explained based upon law of diffusion and dissolution. The gaseous exchange takes place due to diffusion. Based upon Fick's law of diffusion and modified Noyes Whitney' s equation the rate of diffusion or dissolution is directly proportional to area of the membrane and concentration gradient and inversely proportional to the thickness of the membrane. Hence less the thickness of membrane more will be the diffusion of gases and more the thickness of membrane less will be the diffusion of gases or there will be decreased gaseous exchange. Hence during pulmonary Oedema the alveoli membrane thickness increase due to secretions and due to which gaseous exchange decreases.

Ans 3:

In tracheostomy the air bypasses the upper respiratory tract(nostrils, nasal cavity, mouth, larynx and pharynx) and enters the trachea directly. On bypassing the upper respiratory tract the air is not passing through the nostrils and nasal cavity due to which air is not getting filtered, cleaned, moistened and warmed. Nasal hairs or vibrissae are present in nostrils which traps the large particles like dust particles, pollen grains etc and prevents it to enter the lungs. Nasal cavity is lined by mucous membrane which secretes mucus and to this mucus small particles are trapped which is removed and propelled outside by cilia present in mucus membranes to the nose. The lining of mucus membranes moistens the air and the increased blood flow in nasal epithelium warms(to body temperature) the air before it enters lungs. Since in tracheostomy air is not passing through nostrils and nasal cavity the air is not getting filtered, cleaned, moistened and warmed. Therefore the air which enters the trachea directly in tracheostomy may contain dust particles, smoke, dry and air can be cool or of more temperature. These dust particles and all can block the tracheostomy site in the patient. Since the air inhaled is at different temperature it may cause bleeding, the air might get trapped in lungs which can collapse the lungs. Surgery during tracheostomy can damage the larynx(a part of upper respiratory tract) due to which person might loose the voice. Tracheostomy makes swallowing of food difficult. Secretions need frequent suctioning in night and also during day. Coughing to clear the airways becomes tough. Tracheostomy site can become clogged and infected.

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