Lung gas exchange: oxygen and CO2 across alveolar epithelium

Pulmonology

Pulmonology — scientific infographic poster

Conditions

🚨Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome 🌬️Asthma 😷Bronchitis 🚬Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease 🧬Cystic Fibrosis 🤒Influenza 🩻Interstitial Lung Disease 😴Obstructive Sleep Apnea 💧Pleural Effusion 🫁Pneumonia 🕸️Pulmonary Fibrosis ❓Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) 🩸Pulmonary Embolism 🫀Pulmonary Hypertension 👶RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) 🔬Sarcoidosis 🧪Alpha-1-Antitrypsin Deficiency 🌳Bronchiectasis 🎈Pneumothorax 🏚️Asbestosis ✈️Berylliosis (Chronic Beryllium Disease) 🔥Carbon Monoxide Poisoning 💔Cor Pulmonale ⛏️Coal Workers’ Pneumoconiosis 🌀Cryptogenic Organizing Pneumonia 🟡Empyema 🔴Eosinophilic Pneumonia 🫘Goodpasture Syndrome (Anti-GBM Disease) 👃Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis (Wegener's) 🐦Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis 🕳️Lung Abscess 🎗️Lung Cancer 🫧Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) 🧱Mesothelioma 🔄Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia 🥛Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis 📈Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension 🌊Pulmonary Edema 🆘Respiratory Failure 🪨Silicosis

Pulmonology focuses on diseases of the lungs and respiratory system, from obstructive airway diseases to critical care pulmonology.

🫁 Interactive Visualization Breathing & Gas Exchange — move the diaphragm yourself Fill the alveoli and watch oxygen diffuse into the blood while carbon dioxide leaves, with live pO₂/pCO₂ meters and an exercise mode. Launch → ⚖️ Interactive Visualization Blood pH — hold the acid–base balance yourself Keep blood pH between 7.35 and 7.45 — blow off CO₂ with the lungs in minutes, dump acid through the kidneys over hours, then break it with hyperventilation or diabetic ketoacidosis. Launch → 🎈 Interactive Visualization Lung Surfactant — keep the air-sacs open See why 300 million wet air-sacs don't collapse from surface tension — a soapy surfactant holds them open — then take it away, as in a premature baby, and watch the lungs stiffen and collapse. Launch → 🌬️ Interactive Visualization The Airway Escalator & Cough — sweep the lungs clean Watch millions of cilia sweep a mucus blanket of trapped dust and germs up and out of your lungs — then trigger a cough to blast an irritant clear, or light a cigarette and watch the escalator freeze. Launch → 🌪️ Interactive Visualization Asthma — squeeze the airway shut, then open it again Narrow a bronchiole and watch resistance climb with the fourth power of the radius — then fire a rescue inhaler and pull the peak flow back out of the red zone. Launch →

Key Research Papers

Foundational and recent peer-reviewed publications across the major pulmonology subspecialties. Each citation links to the full text via DOI.

  1. The Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome Network. Ventilation with Lower Tidal Volumes as Compared with Traditional Tidal Volumes for Acute Lung Injury and the Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome. New England Journal of Medicine. 2000;342(18):1301–1308. — doi:10.1056/NEJM200005043421801
  2. Ranieri VM, Rubenfeld GD, Thompson BT, et al. Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome: The Berlin Definition. JAMA. 2012;307(23):2526–2533. — doi:10.1001/jama.2012.5669
  3. Guérin C, Reignier J, Richard JC, et al. Prone Positioning in Severe Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (PROSEVA). New England Journal of Medicine. 2013;368(23):2159–2168. — doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1214103
  4. Vogelmeier CF, Criner GJ, Martinez FJ, et al. Global Strategy for the Diagnosis, Management, and Prevention of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease 2017 Report (GOLD). American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. 2017;195(5):557–582. — doi:10.1164/rccm.201701-0218PP
  5. Reddel HK, Bacharier LB, Bateman ED, et al. Global Initiative for Asthma Strategy 2021: Executive Summary and Rationale for Key Changes (GINA). European Respiratory Journal. 2022;59(1):2102730. — doi:10.1183/13993003.02730-2021
  6. King TE Jr, Bradford WZ, Castro-Bernardini S, et al. A Phase 3 Trial of Pirfenidone in Patients with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (ASCEND). New England Journal of Medicine. 2014;370(22):2083–2092. — doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1402582
  7. Richeldi L, du Bois RM, Raghu G, et al. Efficacy and Safety of Nintedanib in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (INPULSIS). New England Journal of Medicine. 2014;370(22):2071–2082. — doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1402584
  8. Middleton PG, Mall MA, Dřevínek P, et al. Elexacaftor–Tezacaftor–Ivacaftor for Cystic Fibrosis with a Single Phe508del Allele. New England Journal of Medicine. 2019;381(19):1809–1819. — doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1908639
  9. Metlay JP, Waterer GW, Long AC, et al. Diagnosis and Treatment of Adults with Community-Acquired Pneumonia: An Official Clinical Practice Guideline of the American Thoracic Society and Infectious Diseases Society of America. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. 2019;200(7):e45–e67. — doi:10.1164/rccm.201908-1581ST
  10. Wells PS, Anderson DR, Rodger M, et al. Excluding Pulmonary Embolism at the Bedside without Diagnostic Imaging. Annals of Internal Medicine. 2001;135(2):98–107. — doi:10.7326/0003-4819-135-2-200107170-00010
  11. Konstantinides SV, Meyer G, Becattini C, et al. 2019 ESC Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Acute Pulmonary Embolism. European Heart Journal. 2020;41(4):543–603. — doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehz405
  12. Simonneau G, Montani D, Celermajer DS, et al. Haemodynamic Definitions and Updated Clinical Classification of Pulmonary Hypertension. European Respiratory Journal. 2019;53(1):1801913. — doi:10.1183/13993003.01913-2018
  13. Sullivan CE, Issa FG, Berthon-Jones M, Eves L. Reversal of Obstructive Sleep Apnoea by Continuous Positive Airway Pressure Applied through the Nares. Lancet. 1981;1(8225):862–865. — doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(81)92140-1
  14. Marin JM, Carrizo SJ, Vicente E, Agusti AG. Long-Term Cardiovascular Outcomes in Men with Obstructive Sleep Apnoea-Hypopnoea with or without Treatment with Continuous Positive Airway Pressure. Lancet. 2005;365(9464):1046–1053. — doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(05)74229-X
  15. Crouser ED, Maier LA, Wilson KC, et al. Diagnosis and Detection of Sarcoidosis: An Official American Thoracic Society Clinical Practice Guideline. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. 2020;201(8):e26–e51. — doi:10.1164/rccm.202002-0251ST
  16. Hayden FG, Sugaya N, Hirotsu N, et al. Baloxavir Marboxil for Uncomplicated Influenza in Adults and Adolescents. New England Journal of Medicine. 2018;379(10):913–923. — doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1716197

PubMed Topic Searches

Each link opens a live PubMed query so results stay current as new papers are indexed.

  1. PubMed: pulmonology review
  2. PubMed: respiratory disease epidemiology
  3. PubMed: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
  4. PubMed: asthma management guidelines
  5. PubMed: pulmonary function testing
  6. PubMed: interstitial lung disease
  7. PubMed: pulmonary hypertension
  8. PubMed: acute respiratory distress syndrome
  9. PubMed: obstructive sleep apnea
  10. PubMed: pulmonary embolism
  11. PubMed: pneumonia treatment
  12. PubMed: sarcoidosis

Connections

All Pulmonology Articles A–Z

Every article in this specialty, listed alphabetically.