ISSN:
1433-8580
Keywords:
Fluorocarbon
;
Surfactant
;
Substitution
;
RDS
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Medicine
Notes:
Summary In our present study we tried to inflate and stabilize isolated immature lungs of fetal minipigs in gestation age of 95 days (= 85% of total normal gestation period) with different fluorocarbons. Based on our previous experiences, the immature lungs at day 95 are almost non inflatable with air [25–27, 29–31]. For our experiments we used fluorocarbon 43 (FC-43) with a surface tension of 16 mN/m and fluorocarbon 72 (FC-72) with a surface tension of 12 mN/m. Eighteen fetal immature lungs were used. In group 1 the lungs were rinsed with FC-43; in group 2 the rinse solution was FC-72, and in group 3 the lungs were untreated. After removing the fluorocarbon, in the case of groups 1 and 2, the lungs were artificially ventilated. Pressurevolume (p–v) curves were registered in the beginning (immediately after FC lavage), after 10 and 20 min of artificial ventilation. Airway opening pressure (pi) and weight-specific end-inspiratory lung compliance (ci) were investigated. Statistically significant differences in weight-specific end-inspiratory compliance were found between FCgroups and untreated group 3, but no stabilization could be seen during the investigation period of 20 min. No statistically significant improvement in weightspecific end-inspiratory compliance was observed between group 1 and 2, although the compliances of group 2 with FC-72 were better than those of group 1 with FC-43 in three p-v diagrams registered in the beginning and after 10 and 20 min of artificial ventilation (Table 2). In airway opening pressure there were no statistically significant differences to be observed between the investigated groups, but the opening pressures of group 2 with FC-72 at 0, 10, and 20 min were always better than those of other groups (Table 1). No significant differences were also seen in wet/dry weight ratio, in content of lipid phosphorus and of phospholipids (dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine, sphingomyelin, and lysophosphatidylcholine) (Table 3). The data presented here suggest that fluorocarbons facilitate transient the inflation of immature lungs. However, for further permanent stabilization the additional replacement of surfactant phospholipids seems to be necessary.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF01852000
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