I need to know the volume of a neonate's lungs at age 28 months.
Specifically, how much liquid can the lung of a neonate hold at this
age?

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 15 Jul 2003 16:27 PDT

The term "neonate" is generally used to refer to a newborn infant, so
I need to make sure I understand your question correctly.

Do you really want the lung volume of a 28 month old child?  And does
it need to be precisely 28 months, or would a general statistic for a
2 year old child be adequate?

Or did you actually have another age (28 days?) in mind all together?

Also, since the lung generally fills with gas, not liquid, I presume
volumes based on the capacity of the lungs to fill with air are
acceptable to you.  Can you confirm this for me, please.

Thanks.

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Clarification of Question by paul1-ga on 16 Jul 2003 09:29 PDT

To clarify my question:  The neonate is premature, so the age is 28
months from gestation.  Volume of the lungs measured either by fluid
or air is OK.  If you can also give me the source of the information,
that would be great.

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Clarification of Question by paul1-ga on 16 Jul 2003 09:33 PDT

Further clarification:  Should be 28 weeks not months.

Hello Paul, and thanks for clarifying your question.

Turns out you're in luck.  The research needed to answer your question
only seems to have recently become available.

An article in the lastest issue of Pediatrics:

PEDIATRICS Vol. 112 No. 1 July 2003, pp. 29-32


Effect of Posture on Oxygenation, Lung Volume, and Respiratory
Mechanics in Premature Infants Studied Before Discharge
Ravindra Yeshwant Bhat, MD, et al.

provides the data you are seeking.

The abstract of the article can be viewed at:  

www.pediatrics.org

and the full-text is available there as well for a small one-time fee.

The study found that the lung capacity for 20 premature infants with a
median gestational age of 30 weeks (range: 27-32 weeks) had a mean
range of 23-27 mL/kg of bodyweight, depending on the whether the
infants were in a prone or supine position, and whether they received
oxygen or not.

More specifically, the data broke out this way:

----------

Lung volume mL/kg

Infants receiving oxygen:
--Prone position:  25 (range 14-36) 
--Supine position  23 (13-32)


Nonoxygen-dependent infants:
--Prone postion:   27 (19-39) 
--Supine position: 26 (17.7-35)

-----------

As you can see, there is a considerable range in lung capacity,
varying from 14-39 mL/kg.


Lung volume was assessed in the infants by "measurement of functional
residual capacity (FRC) using a helium gas dilution technique and a
specially designed infant circuit".


Due to copyright restrictions, I cannot reproduce the full article
here.  However, if you need any additional detail about the data
cited, methods used, or other aspects of the research, just let me
know by posting a Request for Clarification, and I'll be happy to
assist you further.

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Request for Answer Clarification by paul1-ga on 16 Jul 2003 13:23 PDT

Are these figures for one lung or two?

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Clarification of Answer by pafalafa-ga on 16 Jul 2003 13:48 PDT

These figures are the total lung capacity of the infant, that is, for
both lungs.

As I said earlier, feel free to ask for additional clarification if
you would like more assistance in understanding or interpreting these
figures.

pafalafa-ga