ABSTRACT
Pulmonary Emergencies Deborah B. Diercks, Steven Ojferman, M ark Thoma and Peter E. Sokolove
Basic Anatomy and Physiology • The trachea, bronchi, and bronchioles are the conducting airways and consist o f a
series o f branching tubes that become narrower and shorter as they penetrate into the lungs. These airway structures have no diffusion capacity and represent about 150 ml o f lung volume. Eventually the terminal bronchioles lead to the alveoli that form the actual gas-exchange interface. The alveolar surface consists o f approximately 3000 ml o f lung volume.
