Fig. 1
From: The future of mechanical ventilation: lessons from the present and the past
Changes of transpulmonary pressure (∆P L) and of pleural pressure (∆P pl) during negative or positive pressure ventilation. Left: possible adverse consequences due to the progressive decrease or progressive increase of pleural pressure (∆P pl). The key variation is the increase or decrease of venous return, respectively. Right: sequence of possible damage when progressively increasing the transpulmonary pressure (∆P L). Either during negative pressure ventilation (here performed at baseline atmospheric pressure, i.e., 0 cmH2O) or during positive pressure ventilation, ∆P L is always positive. See text for details. ∆P aw change in airway pressure