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W. H. ABELMANN, M.D.; N. R. FRANK, M.D.; E. A. GAENSLER, M.D.; D. W. CUGELL, M.D.

AMA Arch Intern Med. 1954;93(4):528-540.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

ABDOMINAL distention may cause dyspnea in patients without disease of the heart or lungs and may aggravate dyspnea of patients with heart disease.* Reports of measurements of lung volumes and pulmonary ventilation in patients with distention of the abdomen are characterized by variability of methods, conditions of study, and results. Most previous observations were largely incidental and often were made on single cases.

The present study was undertaken to determine the effects of abdominal distention by ascites on lung volumes and ventilatory function, to elucidate the mechanisms by which abdominal distention produces dyspnea, and to ascertain whether relief following reduction of distention is accompanied by measurable changes in pulmonary function.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Selection of Patients.

—Thirteen patients with massive ascites were studied before and within 48 hours after paracentesis. In two of these patients (Cases 7 and 8) the studies were repeated when fluid had reaccumulated several months later . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
BOSTON

From the Thorndike Memorial Laboratory, Second and Fourth Medical Services (Harvard), Boston City Hospital, and the Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; the Physiology Laboratory, Thoracic Surgery Service, Sanatorium Division of the Boston City Hospital, Mattapan, and the Department of Surgery, Boston University School of Medicine.

Footnotes
This investigation was supported, in part, by research grants from the National Institutes of Health, Public Health Service (RG-3015(c)), and from the Committee on Medical Research of the American Trudeau Society, medical section of the National Tuberculosis Association.

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