Pulmonary hemodynamics in fetal lambs during development at normal and increased oxygen tension.

During the latter third of gestation, the number of resistance vessels in the lungs of the fetal sheep increases by 10-fold even after correction for lung growth. We measured pulmonary arterial pressure and blood flow directly and calculated total pulmonary resistance (pressure divided by flow) in intrauterine fetal lambs at 93-95 days and at 136 days of gestation (term is 145-148 days). In addition, we used a hyperbaric chamber to increase oxygen tension in the fetuses and measured the effect on the pulmonary circulation. When corrected for wet weight of the lungs, pulmonary blood flow did not change with advancing gestation (139 +/- 42 to 103 +/- 45 ml.100 g-1.min-1). Pulmonary arterial pressure increased (42 +/- 5 to 49 +/- 3 mmHg); thus total pulmonary resistance increased with advancing gestation from 0.32 +/- 0.12 to 0.55 +/- 0.21 mmHg.100 g.min.ml-1. If the blood flow is corrected for dry weight of the lungs, neither pulmonary blood flow nor total pulmonary resistance changed with advancing gestation. Increasing oxygen tension increased pulmonary blood flow 10-fold in the more mature fetuses but only 0.2-fold in the less mature fetuses. At the normal low oxygen tension of the fetus, pulmonary blood flow does not increase between these two points of gestation in the fetal lamb despite the increase in vessel density in the lungs. However, during elevated oxygen tension, pulmonary blood flow does increase in proportion to the increase in vessel density.