SUBGROSS PULMONARY ANATOMY OF RABBIT RAT AND GUINEA PIG WITH ADDITIONAL NOTES ON HUMAN LUNG

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
As an extension of previous comparative subgross studies, the lungs of the rabbit, rat, and guinea pig were examined by the same subgross methods. They were classified as similar to, but variants of, lung type II; that is, the lung pattern found in the dog, cat, and monkey. They share in common a thin pleura supplied by the pulmonary artery, and similar bronchovascular relationships. The pulmonary artery closely follows the bronchus but the pulmonary vein travels a relatively independent course from periphery to hilum. Interlobular septa and individual secondary lobules are absent. Distal bronchioles differ in that they are not as highly alveolarized as in the dog, cat, and monkey. Bronchial artery/pulmonary artery anastomoses were found in all 3 of these species, but they were not found in the original 3 species of type II. The rat and guinea pig have a similar distal distribution of the bronchial artery, but an unusual variant was found in the rabbit. The bronchial artery in this animal appeared to terminate at the level of the 3rd division of the main stem bronchus, critically reducing the lungs'' collateral blood supply. Beyond this, the total parenchymal blood supply appeared to be derived from the pulmonary artery. Anatomically, the lungs of all these species are markedly different from those of man. Important physiologic and pathologic differences may also exist. The horse lung, more than the lung of any other species examined in these studies, resembles that of man in subgross morphology.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: