Pulmonary lymph flow and the uptake of liquid from the lungs of the lamb at the start of breathing

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1. Lymph from the lungs of lambs and sheep was found to enter both the right lymph duct and the thoracic duct. Right lymph duct flow was collected by constructing a venous sac, the venous tributaries of which were ligated but which the right lymph duct entered; thoracic duct flow was collected by cannulating the duct. Lymph from sites other than the lungs was excluded from the collections.2. Measurements were made of the surface tension characteristics of lung extracts and of the liquid present in foetal lungs. These values were used together with gestational age and crown-rump length to designate the foetal lambs into mature and immature groups.3. Lymph flow from the lungs averaged 0.99 ml./kg body wt./hr in immature foetal lambs, and 1.81 ml./kg/hr in mature foetal lambs before the start of ventilation. Lymph flow from the lungs of spontaneously delivered new-born lambs (mean age 51 hr) averaged 0.86 ml./kg/hr. In adult ewes right lymph duct flow averaged 0.11 ml./kg/hr and total lung lymph flow was estimated indirectly to be 0.33 ml./kg/hr. Calculated rates of protein flow in lung lymph (flow x protein concentration) were greater in foetal lambs than in adult sheep.4. Total thoracic duct flow averaged 2.48 ml./kg/hr in immature foetal lambs, 5.30 ml./kg/hr in mature foetal lambs, 3.65 ml./kg/hr in new-born lambs, and 2.92 ml./kg/hr in adult ewes.5. At the start of ventilation there was an increase in lymph flow from the lungs, which at 15-30 min reached a mean of 6.4 ml./kg/hr in mature lambs and 2.6 ml./kg/hr in immature lambs. At the same time the protein concentration of lymph decreased but the calculated protein flow increased.6. The lungs of foetal lambs weighed more than the lungs of spontaneously delivered new-born lambs, and the difference could be accounted for by liquid which could be aspirated through the trachea of the foetal lamb. On ventilation of the lungs for 2 hr, without first allowing the escape of any lung liquid, lung weight measurements indicated that about 66% of the lung liquid had been taken up in mature lambs and about 50% in immature lambs.7. It was concluded that the rate at which lymph is formed in the lungs is greater per kilogram body weight in foetal than in new-born lambs and greater in them than in ewes. The increase in lymph flow at the start of ventilation could account for the removal of about 40% of the liquid present in the lungs of the mature foetus and about 25% of the liquid in the lungs of the immature foetus.