Pulmonary lobar vascular resistances during constant and pulsatile flows

Abstract

We measured arterial and venous occlusion pressure profiles in left lower lobes of dog lungs perfused in constant flow and pulsatile flow. Initially, pulmonary arterial pressure, flow rate, and venous pressure were recorded during a series of inflow and outflow occlusions effected during constant flow perfusion. The perfusion was then made pulsatile and while keeping the same flow rate, a second series of vascular occlusions was performed. The arterial occlusion pressures measured with the two modes of perfusion were similar. During pulsatile perfusion, the variation in arterial pressure following an arterial occlusion varied with the timing of occlusion in the pressure cycle. The arterial pressure drop could be recovered by selecting the time-averaged pulmonary arterial pressure as the upstream pressure. During both types of perfusion, the venous occlusion curves were similar. The arterial and venous pressure drops were approximately 4.8 mm Hg and 4.2 mm Hg, respectively. We conclude that the longitudinal distribution of pulmonary vascular pressures can be inferred from occlusion measurements obtained in pulsatile flow.