title: Effects of a localized high-flow anastomosis between the aorta and left lower lobe pulmonary artery on great vessel flow and pulmonary arterial reactivity in the contralateral lung.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We sought to assess the effects of a localized anastomosis between the aorta and left lower lobe pulmonary artery on flows through central vessels and on the vascular reactivity of small pulmonary arteries distal or contralateral to the shunt.
  
  
  METHODS
  Flow rates in major vessels and tensions from small pulmonary arteries from the left and right lower lobes were determined 48 hours after creation of an end-to-side anastomosis of the left lower lobe pulmonary artery to the aorta.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Anastomoses increased flow through the left lower lobe pulmonary artery from 194±6 to 452±18 mL/min immediately after anastomosis to 756±19 mL/min by the time of harvest (n=88, P<.05). Flow rates in main pulmonary arteries from hosts with anastomoses were lower (557±26 vs 1033±244 mL/min), whereas aortic root flows were not different from control values (1370±53 vs 1120±111 mL/min; P=.07). Wet/dry weights of both lungs and aortic flow rates were proportional to shunt flow rates. Pulmonary artery rings harvested from the right (unshunted) lobes of high-flow hosts exhibited increased reactivity to the thromboxane agonist U46619 and phenylephrine relative to those of left pulmonary arteries from the same animal or those of control hosts.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our studies are the first to identify enhanced reactivity of pulmonary arteries in a lung contralateral to a localized high-output shunt between an aorta and pulmonary artery. These observations suggest that patients with localized systemic-to-pulmonary shunt could exhibit modified vascular tone in remote pulmonary arteries.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI 53226, USA.
authors.forename: Lewis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Somberg
authors.forename: Ram
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nirula
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bousamra
authors.forename: Jill
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Friesema
authors.forename: Daling
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Meetha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Medhora
authors.forename: Elizabeth R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Jacobs
mesh_terms: D000714:Anastomosis, Surgical; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001011:Aorta / Q000601:surgery*; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D008168:Lung / Q000098:blood supply*; D008297:Male; D011651:Pulmonary Artery / Q000187:drug effects / Q000601:surgery*; D011652:Pulmonary Circulation / Q000187:drug effects; D012039:Regional Blood Flow; D013552:Swine; D013997:Time Factors; D014661:Vasoconstriction / Q000187:drug effects; D014662:Vasoconstrictor Agents / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D014662:Vasoconstrictor Agents