Mechanical properties of excised calf lungs

Five isolated calf lungs were suspended in an airtight box used as a ventilator. Lungs were ventilated from the outside at different levels of transpulmonary pressure (Ptp). The static pressure-volume curve characteristics of the lungs were measured. Static compliance (Cstat) was 1.9 +/- 0.37 litres kPa-1 or 25 +/- 5 per cent of total lung capacity kPa-1. At a Ptp of 0.7 kPa, dynamic compliance (Cdyn) and lung resistance (RL) were 1.1 +/- 0.1 litres kPa-1 and 0.126 +/- 0.02 kPa litres sec-1, respectively. Both an increase and a decrease of this level of Ptp induced an increase of RL and a decrease of Cdyn. The ratio Cdyn/Cstat averaged 57 +/- 0.8 per cent. It was concluded that in excised lungs, Cdyn is lower in the calf than in a number of other species and that pulmonary function values measured in vitro are optimum at values of Ptp close to values recorded in vivo in healthy cattle.