Static pressure–volume (PV) loops obtained in the eight animals under three lung conditions

The three conditions used were: before lung lavage, after lung lavage, and after lung lavage and additional injurious ventilation (injur vent). Each PV loop was obtained from 0 to 40 cmHO and back to 0 cmHO airway pressure by a slow inflation–deflation, interrupted technique. End-expiratory lung volume at 10 cmHO of positive end-expiratory pressure before a lung recruitment maneuver (LRM) (EELV-10)(filled circles) and after an LRM (EELV-10) (open circles) agreed well with the volumes found on the inspiratory and expiratory limbs, respectively, of the PV loops.Copyright information:Taken from "Alveolar recruitment can be predicted from airway pressure-lung volume loops: an experimental study in a porcine acute lung injury model"http://ccforum.com/content/12/1/R7Critical Care 2008;12(1):R7-R7.Published online 21 Jan 2008PMCID:PMC2374591.