THE EFFECT OF PULMONARY VASCULAR CONGESTION ON THE DISTENSIBILITY OF THE LUNGS

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Abstract
The effect of pulmonary congestion on the distensibility of the lungs was investigated in both the isolated lung of the dog and in the open-chested animal. The degree of distensibility was derived from the corresponding increase in intratracheal pressure produced by inflation of the lung with known vol. of air and, in the isolated lung, also from changes produced by lung inflation upon the ratio of intratracheal to "intratho-racic" pressures (the latter being the pressure in the chamber in which the lung was enclosed). In the isolated lung, injn. of known vol. of heparinized blood into the pulmonary artery resulted in a diminished distensibility of the lung. Withdrawal of this blood caused a return of the distensibility toward its control level, thus demonstrating that the decreased distensibility was due to intravascular blood rather than intra-alveolar transudate. In the open-chested dog, compression of the pulmonary veins, producing pulmonary congestion, also resulted in a decrease in distensibility of the lung. Release of the compression caused a return of the distensibility toward its control level. Aortic compression, another method for producing pulmonary congestion, also diminished pulmonary distensibility. Improvement in pulmonary distensibility occurred after compression of the main pulmonary artery, after partial compression of both vena cavae, and during the development of shock toward the end of the expt. This study demonstrated that the distensibility of the lungs varied in an inverse manner with the amt. of blood in the pulmonary vessels.

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