Influence of lung parenchyma on dynamic bronchial collapsibility of excised dog lungs

The main bronchi of excised dog lobes were obstructed 5-6 cm from their origin with beads, so that they did not communicate with the peripheral air spaces. With the lobe held at constant transpulmonary pressure, bronchial pressure-volume curves were recorded during both static and dynamic bronchial deflations. This was done both before and after dissecting the obstructed bronchus free of parenchymal attachments. The parenchymal contribution on dynamic deflation was much larger than the airway contribution: dynamic bronchial compliances in intact bronchi were 58 +- 8% and 65 +- 8% of the static at dynamic rates of bronchial deflation of 14 and 8 ml/s, respectively, whereas in dissected bronchi they were 72 +- 9% and 78 +- 9%. These relationships were not influenced by changes of transpulmonary pressure applied to the lobar parenchyma. The parenchymal effect on dynamic bronchial compliance was analyzed in terms of parenchymal interdependence and bronchial stress adaptation. We concluded that the presence of lung parenchymal attachments significantly reduced dynamic bronchial collapsibility as compared to static collapsibility.