The client with respiratory difficulty has a V/Q ratio of 0.5 . What is the significance of this value?
A. The ratio is low; ventilation is exceeding perfusion.
B. The ratio is low; perfusion is exceeding ventilation.
C. The ratio is high; ventilation is exceeding perfusion.
D. The ratio is high; perfusion is exceeding ventilation.
B
When ventilation and perfusion match, the ratio is or approaches 1 . When this ratio is less than 1, ventilation is decreased and is not matched with perfusion. Ventilation and perfusion are not the same throughout, even in healthy lungs. Perfusion is greater at the bases of the lungs and ventila-tion is greater at the apices of the lungs. Therefore, the normal V/Q ratio for the entire lung is about 0.8 . When the V/Q ratio is 0.5, essentially blood flow through some area is occurring, but the blood is not becoming oxygenated because ventilation is less than adequate.
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