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Definition of Physiologic dead space
1. Noun. (obsolete) The volume of the conducting airways of the lung. This definition became inadequate once the ''alveolar dead space'' was described. ¹
2. Noun. (context: physiology) That volume of air in the lung which does not partake in gas exchange. ¹
3. Noun. (context: physiology) That volume of air in the lung that does not eliminate carbon dioxide, as defined functionally by the Bohr equation. ¹
4. Noun. (context: physiology) The sum of the anatomic plus the alveolar dead spaces. ¹
5. Noun. (context: physiology) The sum of the parallel and the serial dead spaces. ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Medical Definition of Physiologic dead space
1. The sum of anatomic and alveolar dead space; the dead space calculated when the carbon dioxide pressure in systemic arterial blood is used instead of that of alveolar gas in Bohr's equation; it is a virtual or apparent volume that takes into account the impairment of gas exchange because of uneven distributions of lung ventilation and perfusion. (05 Mar 2000)