lung compliance
Last reviewed 01/2018
This is a static measure of lung and chest recoil and is expressed as a change in lung volume per unit change in airway pressure e.g. litres/ cm H2O.
It may be thought of as the inverse of stiffness; ie an increase in stiffness leads to a reduction in compliance.
It is decreased in nearly all lung conditions except for emphysema, where it is increased.