Pulmonary capillary pressure in intact dog lungs

Abstract
A gravimetric method was used to determine the ratio (.gamma.) of pulmonary venous to total pulmonary vascular resistance in intact dog lungs. From this ratio, pulmonary capillary pressure (Pc) can be calculated. The average value of .gamma. was 0.50 .+-. 0.06 (mean .+-. SD) in dogs. No correlation between .gamma. and PO2, PCO2, pH, or hematocrit was found in the narrow ranges of these experiments. Over the capillary pressure range of 22.4-35.2 mmHg there was no correlation between .gamma. and Pc. The value of .gamma. found in this study is not significantly different from the value found in isolated perfused lungs.