Distribution of pulmonary blood flow in relation to atelectasis in premature ventilated lambs

To investigate the ability of the preterm, ventilated lung to redirect blood flow away from atelectatic regions, we studied lambs with respiratory distress syndrome and spontaneous atelectasis or atelectasis caused by bronchial obstruction with a balloon catheter. Pulmonary blood flow distributions were measured by quantifying 15-mu, microsphere-associated radioactivity within multiple pieces of lung. Lambs with well aerated or very atelectatic lungs had relatively uniform blood flow/gram lung in all pieces of lung. Blood flow was much less uniform in lungs with both aerated and atelectatic regions. In 9 lambs with spontaneous atelectasis that included 25 +/- 5% (mean +/- SE) of the lungs by weight, blood flow was 29 +/- 4% less to atelectatic than to aerated lung volumes (p less than 0.01). In 5 lambs with well-aerated lungs, 18 +/- 3% of the lung by weight was made atelectatic by balloon occlusion of a major lower lobe bronchus. There was a 44 +/- 11% decrease in blood flow to the atelectatic lung segments. These studies document the ability of the lung of the premature, ventilated lamb to shunt pulmonary blood flow away from atelectatic lung volumes.