Electrical impedance tomography in monitoring experimental lung injury.
OBJECTIVE
To apply electrical impedance tomography (EIT) and the new evaluation approach (the functional EIT) in monitoring the development of artificial lung injury.


METHODS
Acute experimental trial.


METHODS
Operating room for animal experimental studies at a university hospital.


METHODS
Five pigs (41.3 +/- 4.1 kg, mean body weight +/- SD).


METHODS
The animals were anaesthetised and mechanically ventilated. Sixteen electrodes were attached on the thoracic circumference and used for electrical current injection and surface voltage measurement. Oleic acid was applied sequentially (total dose 0.05 ml/kg body weight) into the left pulmonary artery to produce selective unilateral lung injury.


RESULTS
The presence of lung injury was documented by significant changes of PaCO2 (40.1 mmHg vs control 37.1 mmHg), PaO2 (112.3 mmHg vs 187.5 mmHg), pH (7.35 vs 7.42), mean pulmonary arterial pressure (29.2 mmHg vs 20.8 mmHg) and chest radiography. EIT detected 1) a regional decrease in mean impedance variation over the affected left lung (-41.4% vs control) and an increase over the intact right lung (+ 20.4% vs control) indicating reduced ventilation of the affected, and a compensatory augmented ventilation of the unaffected lung and 2) a pronounced fall in local baseline electrical impedance over the injured lung (-20.6% vs control) with a moderate fall over the intact lung (-10.0% vs control) indicating the development of lung oedema in the injured lung with a probable atelectasis formation in the contralateral one.


CONCLUSIONS
The development of the local impairment of pulmonary ventilation and the formation of lung oedema could be followed by EIT in an experimental model of lung injury. This technique may become a useful tool for monitoring local pulmonary ventilation in intensive care patients suffering from pulmonary disorders associated with regionally reduced ventilation, fluid accumulation and/or cell membrane changes.
Department of Anaesthesiological Research, Centre of Anaesthesiology, Emergency and Intensive Care Medicine, University of Göttingen, Germany.
I
I
Frerichs
G
G
Hahn
T
T
Schröder
G
G
Hellige
D000208:Acute Disease; D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D017097:Electric Impedance; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008168:Lung / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000379:methods; D019301:Oleic Acid; D011654:Pulmonary Edema / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D013552:Swine; D013997:Time Factors; D014054:Tomography / Q000379:methods*
D019301:Oleic Acid