"Anaesthesia and the Lung 1992" presents recent advances in the diagnosis, pre-, intra-, and postoperative anaesthetic management of patients with lung disease, presenting for pulmonary and non-pulmonary surgery. It also deals with ventilation - perfusion issues, the lung as a metabolic organ, the effects of anaesthesia on pulmonary mechanics and pulmonary blood flow. In addition, there are chapters that focus on hypoxia; regional differences in the lung; pulmonary surfactant; recent advances in the understanding of pulmonary edema; high altitude disease; anaesthesia and the control of breathing; recent development in oximetry; instrumentation designed to measure pulmonary oxygen tension, pO2 and pCO2 transcutaneously; differential lung ventilation; reactive airways; septic shock; the adult respiratory distress syndrome and numerous aspects of ventilatory support.