Airway conductance is known to increase with an increase in the lung volume at which it is measured, owing to a change in transpulmonary pressure and lung tissue tension. We investigated the effect of surgical resection of lung tissue on functional residual capacity and airway conductance in patients with localized lung disease (i.e., carcinoma or tuberculosis) and in patients with lung cysts or bullous emphysema. In four out of five of the patients who had resection of one or more lobes of the lung to remove localized disease there was a reduction both in the airway conductance and in the functional residual capacity with relatively little change in the conductance volume ratio.
Robert M. Rogers, Arthur B. DuBois, William S. Blakemore