Why would the gas transfer factor be low in a person who had interstitial lung disease?
Gas transfer factor, more commonly known as “Diffusion Capacity” is a measure of the lung’s ability to transfer gas between the alveoli (smallest branch of the lungs) and the blood stream. Interstitial lung disease is any disease that effects the space around the alveoili, also called the A-C membrane. A good example of interstitial lung disease is pulmonary fibrosis. Gas doesn’t pass through thick fibrotic tissue as readily as it does through the normally thin A-C membrane so this pathology will decrease diffusion capacity. Similarly any inflammation, fluid, etc… in the area of the A-C membrane could decrease diffusion capacity in the same way fibrosis would, it’s just physics.
