Recent advances in the clinical application of heart-lung interactions,”

Clinical applications of heart-lung interactions have centered on the impact of ventilation on regional blood flow and the measures of cardiovascular responsiveness to both positive end-expiratory pressure and fluid resuscitation. These new and exciting applications of established physiology provide new therapeutic options for the caregiver with reduced risk for complications in the patient. This review illustrates several of these studies within the context of known cardiopulmonary physiology. Several recently published studies have addressed the hemodynamic effects of positive pressure ventilation. In general, these studies tend to support the previous theoretical construct for our understanding of heart-lung interactions, adding incremental clinical applications and guidelines. Thus, these new studies will be presented within the context of our present-day understanding of heart-lung interactions