A Novel and Simultaneous Analysis of the Guyton and Rahn Diagrams. Graphical models of physiology are heuristically appealing as they facilitate qualitative conclusions at the bedside of the critically ill. Historically, the Rahn diagram has portrayed the physiology of the lungs, chest wall and respiratory system, while the Guyton diagram has illustrated cardiovascular physiology. As contemporary methods of haemodynamic monitoring, and their predecessors, are inexorably influenced by the interaction between the respiratory and cardiovascular systems, a qualitative graphical model for mechanical heart-lung interaction holds clinical utility.

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