Vascular and extravascular compartments of the isolated perfused rabbit lung.

The vascular, interstitial, and cellular compartments of 15 isolated, perfused and ventilated rabbit lungs determined by a steady-state indicator-dilution procedure. Five lungs were perfused with constant pulmonary artery flow and zero left atrial pressure for more than 1 h. Edema formation was continuous and pulmonary vascular volume (PVV) decreased initially at a time when pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) was falling. Increases in PVR were not seen until edema formation had become severe. In 10 other lungs, increases in pulmonary artery or left atrial pressure resulted in elevation of PVV and accelerated edema formation. The initially abrupt increase in PVV was followed by a more gradual increase over a 10-min period. Return of fluid to the vasculature was never observed in these studies. Labeled albumin readily entered the extravascular space but a relatively constant fraction of the interstitium remained inaccessible to albumin. No changes were found in the cellular volume during edema formation.