Basics of Lung Fluid Balance

Abstract

Precise physiologic investigations of circulatory fluid balance date from the pioneering work of Starling.' More recently, attention has been focused on the properties of the lung microvascularinterstitial barrier, using concepts from membrane exchange developed by Kedem and Katcha)sky.2 The purpose of this article is to discuss the physiology of lung fluid balance using the physics of semipermeable membranes as a conceptual base.