
The ratio of physiologic dead space to tidal volume is usually about 1/3. The parameters the researcher obtains for a single subject are documented below. Alveolar dead space is the volume of gas within unperfused alveoli (and thus not participating in gas exchange either) it is usually negligible in the healthy, awake patient. USMLE Step 1 style questions USMLE of complete A researcher studies lung ventilation in healthy adult patients and attempts to calculate a subject’s alveolar ventilation. Anatomic dead space is the volume of gas within the conducting zone (as opposed to the transitional and respiratory zones) and includes the trachea, bronchus, bronchioles, and terminal bronchioles it is approximately 2 mL/kg in the upright position.

Physiologic or total dead space is the sum of anatomic dead space and alveolar dead space.

Dead space is the volume of a breath that does not participate in gas exchange. Based on the recently published paper Impact of Respiratory Rate and Dead Space in the Current Era of Lung Protective Mechanical Ventilation, we will discuss here briefly the different part of the dead space and how it can be reduced, as well as the relations with respiratory rate, tidal volume and alveolar ventilation (part 2).
