LUNG STIFFNESS IN STATES OF ABNORMAL PULMONARY BLOOD FLOW AND PRESSURE

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Abstract
That bilateral anterior bulging of the chest with indrawing of the lower ribs is closely related to hyperkinetic pulmonary hypertension is re-affirmed. Measurement of compliance in a series of 34 selected cases representing varying combinations of pressure and flow in the pulmonary circulation suggests that the deformity is caused by stiff lungs. Other conditions with low compliance in infancy and early childhood, such as cor triatriatum and congenital mitral stenosis, may have a similar thoracic deformity. The low compliance of hyperkinetic pulmonary hypertension may well be a function of the vascular scaffolding of the lung, which in these circumstances is composed of thick walled vessels of large lumen in a unique combination. These vessels should in theory be particularly resistant to distortion.