Journal of Applied Physiology, Vol 56, Issue 1 248-253, Copyright © 1984 by American Physiological Society

ARTICLES

Accurate reference measurement for postmortem lung water

M. Julien, M. R. Flick, J. M. Hoeffel and J. F. Murray

To test the hypothesis that dry blood-free lung weight is increased during pulmonary edema, thereby leading to an underestimation of the ratio of extravascular lung water-to-dry lung weight, we measured postmortem lung water, dry mass, and hydroxyproline content in 33 sheep with normal lungs (n = 10), high-pressure edema (n = 9), or increased permeability edema (n = 14). Residual blood in the lung, measured using hemoglobin as the intravascular marker in all sheep, and also using 51Cr-tagged red blood cells in 24 sheep, was not different between the two methods or among the three groups of sheep. Extravascular lung water increased 64% in sheep with high-pressure edema and 82% in those with increased permeability edema compared with control values. Dry blood-free lung weight was significantly greater (33% more than control values) in sheep with increased permeability edema, causing the ratio of extravascular lung water-to-dry blood-free lung weight to underestimate accumulated lung water by about 50%. Because hydroxyproline content of the lung was not affected by edema, the ratio of extravascular lung water-to-lung hydroxyproline content was more accurate than the ratio of extravascular lung water-to-dry blood-free lung weight in the quantification of pulmonary edema.

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