Maurice J. Small

The Vital Capacity in Pulmonary Emphysema

Excerpt It is commonly believed that the vital capacity of patients with obstructive or bullous pulmonary emphysema is more or less diminished; mild emphysema is supposed to be accompanied by sligh...

Effect of X Rays on Human Sternal Marrow Circulation

As early as 1868, shortly after the rec~ ognition of the hematopoietic function of bone marrow, Bizzozzero (1) estimated that about half of the active marrow consists of blood vessels. The response of the cellular, hematopoietic component of human marrow to both physiological and pathological events has been studied in great detail; the reaction of the marrow blood vessels under similar conditions has received relatively little attention. The disappearance rate of a locally deposited radioactive substance from the sternal marrow has been shown to be a reasonable measure of the effective capillary blood flow of that organ (2). Hematopoietic cells are known to be most vulnerable to the damaging effects of x rays (3), but little is known of the effects of x rays, if any, on sternal marrow blood flow. It seemed pertinent, therefore, to study the radioisotope clearance from the sternal marrow of patients who had received irradiation in that region. The half-time clearance of I131 Hippuran from the sternal marr...

Timed vital capacity a correlation with maximal breathing capacity and use as a clinical test of ventilatory function

Summary The literature on timed vital capacity is reviewed. In 400 patients with various chronic pulmonary diseases the one-second timed vital capacity was compared with the maximal breathing capacity. It was found that the determination of the one-second timed vital capacity with the aid of the Gaensler-Collins vitalometer is an easy and reliable method. A good correlation exists between the one-second timed vital capacity and maximal breathing capacity. When the individuals are grouped as “normal” and patients with “restrictive,” “obstructive” and “combined” ventilatory defect, the ratio: M.B.C., L. per minute/one-second timed vital capacity, L., differs significantly between the groups, except between the “obstructive” and “combined” groups. For clinical evaluation of ventilatory function the determination of the one-second timed vital capacity appears to be satisfactory.