Chronic multiple pulmonary emboli. Regional response of the bronchial circulation

In pulmonary embolism, the bronchial circulation can dramatically increase perfusion to the lung and prevent infarction. The physiology of this response is incompletely understood. The authors studied the regional changes in the bronchial circulation in an animal model after multiple chronic pulmonary emboli to the periphery of one lung. The gross anatomy of the bronchial circulation was studied using Batson's solution to produce vascular casts of the pulmonary and bronchial circulations. These casts were prepared in a normal sheep and in a sheep with multiple chronic microemboli in the periphery of one lung. The normal bronchial arteries are visible as threadlike structures covering the surface of the tracheobronchial tree with ramifications extending to the lung periphery. In a sheep with multiple chronic microemboli, the bronchial arteries supply the pulmonary parenchyma deprived of pulmonary arterial flow. The bronchial arteries following pulmonary arterial embolization markedly dilate and are serpentine.