Pulmonary vascular input impedance in the newborn and infant pig

The input impedance of the main pulmonary artery in 26 pigs aged from 1 h to 2 weeks has been calculated from measurements of pressure and flow. From these data we have derived estimates of the hydraulic power output of the right heart. The impedance spectra were similar in form to those in many other studies and were consistent with the presence of a single reflection site within the lung. The frequency of the (single) minimum decreased steadily with increasing age as did the corresponding zero crossing point on the phase curve. From estimates of propagation velocity the position of this "reflection site" was found to coincide with the position of the lung periphery in each age group. An overall fall in characteristic impedance with increasing age was found to be due to the increasing diameter of the pulmonary artery rather than to changes in its elasticity. The total power output/body weight of the right heart fell from 10.4 to 4.8 mW X kg-1 from birth to 4 weeks of age. During this period the ratio of pulsatile to steady power fell from 0.5 to 0.31. We conclude that this fall is related to a reduction in the effective reflection of pressure and flow waves within the lung due to increasing attenuation and possibly to a reduction in the magnitude of the lumped reflection coefficient itself.