Persistence of lung edema and arterial pressure rise in dogs after lung emboli

Abstract

Bilateral pulmonary edema was present in dogs autopsied 24 hr after pulmonary embolization. Mean pulmonary artery pressure remained elevated during this period. Most others, which survived up to the 3rd day and died spontaneously after embolization, showed edema at autopsy. Longer survivors showed no edema. Edema severity during the first 2 days was roughly related to the pressure rise during the 1st hr after embolization. Immediate significant pulmonary artery pressure rise, predominant in dogs succumbing by the 3rd day, was not as common in those surviving longer. Thus, survival time showed an inverse relationship to immediate pulmonary artery pressure elevation. In another 17 dogs followed as long as 10–23 months after embolization, 53% showed a significant rise in pressure at the end and some animals also had histologic pulmonary vascular changes. In some instances acute elevation of pulmonary artery pressure at embolization may anticipate chronic pulmonary arterial hypertension. The problem is the creation of embolism which elevates pulmonary arterial pressure without animals succumbing acutely to the associated pulmonary edema.