Compensatory lung growth occurs in adult dogs after right pneumonectomy.

We investigated the structural changes in the left lung of five adult male foxhounds 5 mo (n = 2) or 16 mo (n = 3) after right pneumonectomy (approximately 54% of lung resected) and five sex- and age-matched foxhounds 15-16 mo after right thoracotomy without pneumonectomy. Lungs were fixed by intratracheal instillation of glutaraldehyde and analyzed by standard morphometric techniques. After right pneumonectomy, volume of the left lung increased by 72%.

Cardiopulmonary adaptations to pneumonectomy in dogs. III. Ventilatory power requirements and muscle structure.

Static and dynamic mechanical characteristics of the respiratory system were measured in five adult foxhounds 6-15 mo after right pneumonectomy (R-PNX) and in five matched foxhounds that underwent right thoracotomy without pneumonectomy (Sham). In R-PNX dogs, elastic recoil was lower than that in the left lung of Sham dogs. On exercise, absolute ventilatory power requirements of the lung and its components were measured, i.

Structural changes underlying compensatory increase of diffusing capacity after left pneumonectomy in adult dogs.

To determine if the functional compensation in diffusing capacity of the remaining lung following pneumonectomy is due to structural growth, we performed morphometric analysis of the right lung in three adult foxhounds approximately 2 yr after left pneumonectomy (removal of 42% of lung) and compared the results to those in normal adult dogs previously studied by the same techniques. Diffusing capacity was calculated by an established morphometric model and compared to physiologic estimates at peak exercise in the same dogs after pneumonectomy. The major structural changes after left pneumonectomy are hyperinflation of the right lung, alveolar enlargement, and thinning of the alveolar-capillary tissue barrier.

Morphometric model for pulmonary diffusing capacity. I. Membrane diffusing capacity.

The pulmonary diffusing capacity is related to the quantitative design characteristics of the pulmonary gas exchanger. The current model for estimating DLO2 from morphometric data breaks the diffusion path for O2 into four steps, three of which represent the membrane part of DLO2. A critique of this model on the basis of newer evidence leads to a modification of the model where the path from the alveolar surface to the erythrocyte membrane is considered as a single step.