PULMONARY MORPHOLOGY IN A MULTI-HOSPITAL COLLABORATIVE EXTRACORPOREAL MEMBRANE-OXYGENATION PROJECT .1. LIGHT-MICROSCOPY

Abstract

The light microscopic morphology found at autopsy in 59 patients who participated in an organized controlled trial of extracorporeal oxygenation as therapy for acute respiratory failure was studied. Observations were recorded as objectively as possible and were analyzed by computer. The experimental therapy produced no specific alteration in the observed pulmonary lesions. Many of the lesions tabulated had significant correlation coefficients with time, all of which were higher when correlated with the duration of respiratory failure than with the duration of the entire acute illness. The rapid progression of the lesions to fibrosis is emphasized as is the predilection of both early and late lesions to involve alveolar ducts to a far greater degree than the distal alveolar spaces. The lesions may result as much from O2 damage as from the original acute illness.