Peculiarities of Blood Flow Changes in Venae Cavae during Experimental Pulmonary Embolism

The model of acute pulmonary embolism in rabbits demonstrated reduced pulmonary blood flow, cardiac output, left atrial pressure, and blood flow in venae cavae against the background of elevated left pulmonary artery pressure and increased pulmonary vascular resistance. Simultaneously, the blood flow in the superior vena cava decreased to a lesser extent than that in the inferior vena cava, which was a characteristic feature of the model of pulmonary pathology. In contrast, when histamine was infused into the left jugular vein to equally elevate pressure in pulmonary artery as in the above model, the blood flow in the superior vena cava decreased to a greater extent than that in inferior vena cava. During stenosis of inferior vena cava that decreased the cardiac output to the level observed during modeled pulmonary embolism, the blood flows in both venae cavae dropped equally.