An analysis of decrements in vital capacity as an index of pulmonary oxygen toxicity

Decrements in vital capacity (% delta VC) were proposed by the Pennsylvania group in the early 1970s as an index of O2-induced lung damage. These workers used the combined effects of PO2 and time of exposure to develop recommendations to limit expected % delta VC. Adopting this general approach, we fitted human pulmonary O2 toxicity data to the hyperbolic equation % delta VC = Bs.(PO2 - B1).(time)B3 using a nonlinear least squares analysis. In addition to the data considered in 1970, our analysis included new data available from the literature. The best fit was obtained when 1) an individual slope parameter, Bs, was estimated for each subject instead of an average slope; 2) PO2 asymptote B1 = 0.38 ATA; and 3) exponent B3 = 1.0. Wide individual variation imposed large uncertainty on any % delta VC prediction. A 12-h exposure to a PO2 of 1 ATA would be expected to yield a median VC decrement of 4%. The 80% confidence limits, however, included changes from +1.0 and -12% delta VC. Until an improved index of pulmonary O2 toxicity is developed, a simplified expression % delta VC = -0.011.(PO2 - 0.5).time (PO2 in ATA and time in min) can be used to predict a median response with little loss in predictability. The limitations of changes in VC as an index are discussed.