Blood flow in pulmonary veins: II The influence of events transmitted from the right and left sides of the heart

Abstract

The wave form of blood flow in the large extra parenchymal pulmonary veins has an inverse relationship to the pressure wave form in the left atrium during each cardiac cycle. However, when vein flow from the lungs is separated from the left atrium by diverting it into a constant pressure reservoir, its wave form then resembles a lung capillary flow pulse, though delayed from it in time and reduced in amplitude. The pulsatility of flow in pulmonary veins separated from the left atrium is further reduced when transcapillary pressure is elevated by lung inflation. However, in the intact state, the relation between the pattern of pulmonary vein flow and left atrial pressure remains unaffected by lung inflation. It is postulated that the thin walled extraparenchymal pulmonary veins together behave as a collapsible reservoir which enables outflow from them to be determined by changes in left atrial pressure, in spite of variations of pulsatile flow into them from the lungs.