The effect of increased pulmonary blood flow on the pulmonary vascular bed in pigs

Increased pulmonary blood flow was produced in 1-month-old piglets by means of left pneumonectomy, arteriovenous fistulas in the neck, and a combination of both. Physiologic and histologic studies of the pulmonary vascular bed were done 1-9 months after operation. A progressive, moderate increase in pulmonary artery (PA) pressure was observed, especially between 1 and 6 months after surgery. This was flow related, i.e., the group with the highest flow (pneumonectomy plus fistula) was found to have the most prominent increase in pressure. Mean Pa pressure at 6 months was 28.7 +/- 0.07 mm Hg in this group, vs 24.4 +/- 0.48 mm Hg in the group with pneumonectomy alone and 17.2 +/- 0.48 mm Hg in controls (P less than 0.01). The pressure response to hypoxia in pigs with high pulmonary blood flow was not different from that found in control animals. Histologic studies revealed that small arteries and arterioles of pigs with high pulmonary blood flow had a decreased relative wall thickness because of dilation up to 6 months follow-up. This was flow related, the group with the highest flow having the lowest wall thickness to vessel diameter ratio; relative wall thickness (in percentage of the vessel diameter ) at 6 months was 6.1 +/- 0.44% in pigs with with pneumonectomy plus fistula, vs 9.6 +/- 0.40% in the group with pneumonectomy alone and 11.2 +/- 0.61% in controls (P less than 0.01). In the group with the highest flow, thick walled arterioles appeared at 9 months follow-up, scattered among dilated ones; between 6 and 9 months after operation, ranging from 6.1 +/- 0.44% to 11.3 +/- 0.73% (P less than 0.01). In five animals with high flow, the right PA (main branch) showed patchy intimal thickening, small cystic spaces filled with mucopolysaccharides in the media, and muscular hypertrophy.