Models of the lung airways of a rat were developed from complete measurements of the tracheobronchial airways. A silicone rubber cast of the tracheobronchial airways of a rat lung was prepared and all individual airway segments down to and including the terminal bronchioles were measured to obtain the segment diameters, lengths, branching angles and angles of inclination to gravity. Models of the rat tracheobronchial airways were constructed based on the original measurements and the subsequent analysis. Some mathematical assumptions about acinar anatomy distal to terminal bronchioles were made to extend the models to include pulmonary regions. Emphasis was placed on the "Typical Path Lung Model" which used one typical pathway to represent either a whole lung or a lobe of the lung. The models are simple and can be applied in calculation of physiologic variables or particle deposition during inhalation in various lobes of the lung.

Atelectasis occurs in the dependent parts of the lungs of most patients who are anesthetized. Development of atelectasis is associated with decreased lung compliance, impairment of oxygenation, increased pulmonary vascular resistance, and development of lung injury. The adverse effects of atelectasis persist into the postoperative period and can impact patient recovery. This review article focuses on the causes, nature, and diagnosis of atelectasis. The authors discuss the effects and implications of atelectasis in the perioperative period and illustrate how preventive measures may impact outcome. In addition, they examine the impact of atelectasis and its prevention in acute lung injury.

Hemolysis drives susceptibility to bacterial infections and predicts poor outcome from sepsis. These detrimental effects are commonly considered to be a consequence of heme-iron serving as a nutrient for bacteria. We employed a Gram-negative sepsis model and found that elevated heme levels impaired the control of bacterial proliferation independently of heme-iron acquisition by pathogens. Heme strongly inhibited phagocytosis and the migration of human and mouse phagocytes by disrupting actin cytoskeletal dynamics via activation of the GTP-binding Rho family protein Cdc42 by the guanine nucleotide exchange factor DOCK8. A chemical screening approach revealed that quinine effectively prevented heme effects on the cytoskeleton, restored phagocytosis and improved survival in sepsis. These mechanistic insights provide potential therapeutic targets for patients with sepsis or hemolytic disorders.

Atelectasis in the presence of preexisting lung disease or limited cardiopulmonary reserve may have significant consequences. Increasing understanding of the underlying nature of atelectasis and its contribution to acute lung injury will improve our approach to the prevention and management of atelectasis.

During mechanical ventilation, lung recruitment attenuates injury caused by high VT, improves oxygenation, and may optimize pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR). We hypothesized that ventilation without recruitment would induce injury in otherwise healthy lungs. Anesthetized rats were ventilated with conventional mechanical ventilation (VT 8 ml/kg; respiratory frequency 40 per minute) and 21% inspired oxygen, with or without a recruitment strategy consisting of recruitment maneuvers plus positive end-expiratory pressure, in the presence or absence of a laparotomy. Additional experiments examined the impact of atelectasis on right ventricular function using echocardiography, as well as functional residual capacity and PVR. Lack of recruitment resulted in reduced overall survival (59% nonrecruited vs. 100% recruited, p < 0.05), increased microvascular leak, greater impairment of oxygenation and lung compliance, increased PVR, and elevated plasma lactate. Echocardiography demonstrated that right ventricular dysfunction occurred in the absence of recruitment. Finally, samples from nonrecruited lungs demonstrated ultrastructural evidence of microvascular endothelial disruption. Although such effects clearly do not occur with comparable magnitude in the clinical context, the current data suggest novel mechanisms (microvascular leak, right ventricular dysfunction) whereby derecruitment may contribute to development of lung injury and adverse systemic outcome.