2003/01/01 by S. J. Lai-Fook, Antonio Montero Alcaide · 2 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Chemistry · Engineering · Medicine · Social Sciences · #Anatomy #Chemistry #Education and Teacher Training #Humanities #Hydrostatic pressure #Internal medicine #Lung #Mechanics #Medicine #Parietal Pleura #Philosophy #Physics #Pleural and Pulmonary Diseases #Pleural cavity #Pleural effusion #Pleural fluid #Political science #Pressure gradient #Proteoglycans and glycosaminoglycans research #Social Issues and Policies in Latin America #Social Sciences and Policies #Tribology and Lubrication Engineering
paper · doi:10.1152/physrev.00026.2003
published in Dialnet (Universidad de la Rioja) 84(2), 385-410 (Universidad Internacional de La Rioja)
openalex publication_date 2003/01/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
The pleural space separating the lung and chest wall of mammals contains a small amount of liquid that lubricates the pleural surfaces during breathing. Recent studies have pointed to a conceptual understanding of the pleural space that is different from the one advocated some 30 years ago in this journal. The fundamental concept is that pleural surface pressure, the result of the opposing recoils of the lung and chest wall, is the major determinant of the pressure in the pleural liquid. Pleural liquid is not in hydrostatic equilibrium because the vertical gradient in pleural liquid pressure, determined by the vertical gradient in pleural surface pressure, does not equal the hydrostatic gradient. As a result, a viscous flow of pleural liquid occurs in the pleural space. Ventilatory and cardiogenic motions serve to redistribute pleural liquid and minimize contact between the pleural surfaces. Pleural liquid is a microvascular filtrate from parietal pleural capillaries in the chest wall. Homeostasis in pleural liquid volume is achieved by an adjustment of the pleural liquid thickness to the filtration rate that is matched by an outflow via lymphatic stomata.