Alveolar multiplication in the contralateral lung after unilateral pneumonectomy in the rabbit.

Four weeks after left pneumonectomy in 10-week-old rabbits, the right lung increased in weight and volume to match the weight and volume of both lungs in control and sham-operated rabbits. Alveolar multiplication occurred in the right lung of the pneumonectomized animals resulting in approximately 60 per cent more alveoli than in the right lung of the control or sham-operated animals. Alveolar size was the same in all animals. The total number of alveoli in the right lungs of the pneumonectomized animals was almost identical to the calculated number of alveoli in both lungs of the control animals.