[Determination of intravascular and extravascular lung water after open heart surgery (author's transl)]

Total lung water (169 measurements) and intravascular lung volume (72 measurements) were determined postoperatively on 11 patients with aortic or mitral valve prostheses, by means of thermodilution (diffusable) and cardiogreen (non-diffusable). No loss of heat from the lungs occurred after injection into the trunk of the pulmonary artery and recordings in the left atrium. The admixture of the tracers was satisfactory. The extravascular volume was found to be higher than that measured by other authors, presumably owing to the greater efficacy of the thermodilution technique as compared to the use of tritiated water.