Now let us consider pneumonia. Patients with pneumonia have a physical barrier within the alveoli, which limits the diffusion of oxygen into the capillaries. However, these patients can ventilate (unlike the patient with hypoventilation), which will result in a well-oxygenated respiratory tract (A) with poor diffusion of oxygen across the alveolar-capillary unit and thus lower oxygen levels in the arterial blood (a). The obstruction, in this case, would occur at the waterfall in our example, limiting the flow of water only through the second part of the river. Thus patients with hypoxemia due to pneumonia will have an inappropriately elevated A-a gradient (due to normal "A" and low "a").