title: Anatomic study of the pulmonary artery as a conduit for an artificial lung.
abstract: Our group is developing an artificial lung as a bridge to transplant. We evaluated the sheep pulmonary artery (PA) for the presence or absence of a septum, which may increase PA resistance and affect artificial lung flow. We also measured the PA size to determine whether it is a suitable conduit for artificial lung implantation using a PA-PA shunt. Adult Suffolk ewes in two groups were studied. Group 1 consisted of animals (n = 12, 30-43 kg) prepared for thoracotomy. Group 2 (n = 21, 30-43 kg) consisted of postmortem dissections. In both groups, the length and girth of the PA was measured. The heart and lungs were removed on all postmortem animals (group 2), the ductus arteriosum was crosscut, and the common PA was incised. The average length of the PA in live animals was 5.5 cm and the average diameter was 2.2 cm. The average length of the PA in postmortem animals was 4.8 cm and the average diameter was 2.0 cm. All pulmonary arteries were aseptate, and the ligamentum arteriosum in each PA was not patent. We conclude that the PA is not a source of increased resistance and is a suitable conduit for artificial lung implantation in the PA-PA configuration.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, The University of Texas Medical Branch and Shriners Hospitals for Children, Galveston 77555-0528, USA.
authors.forename: D D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Harper
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Alpard
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Deyo
authors.forename: S D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Lick
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Traber
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Zwischenberger
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001187:Artificial Organs; D005260:Female; D008168:Lung / Q000098:blood supply*; D016040:Lung Transplantation; D011651:Pulmonary Artery / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D011652:Pulmonary Circulation; D012756:Sheep; D014655:Vascular Resistance