Physiology of pulmonary perfusion: new concepts.
Regional pulmonary perfusion is spatially heterogeneous. The classic assumption has been that this is due to the influence of gravity. In the past decade, a new concept has emerged, stressing the fractal geometric properties of the pulmonary vascular tree. Studies that support the gravitational concept tend to have been elaborated using a lower resolution of measurement whereas experiments with high resolution measurements often yield results that contradict the gravitational hypothesis.
Kleen
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M
Department of Anaesthesiology, University Hospital, University of Munich, Marchioninistrasse 15, 81366 Munich, Germany. kleen@icf.med.uni-muenchen.de
Zwissler
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