Abstract
Three groups of 10 adult male Wistar albino rats were studied. The first was kept for five weeks in a hypobaric chamber exposed to a barometric pressure of 380 mmHg, equivalent to a simulated altitude of 5,500 m above sea level. The second was exposed to the same barometric pressure for five weeks and then allowed to recover in room air for a further period of five weeks. The third group acted as controls and was kept at normal barometric pressure throughout. At necropsy right ventricular weight was expressed as an inverse ratio of left ventricular weight (LV/RV ratio). The thickness of the media of the pulmonary trunk was expressed as a ratio of that of the aorta. The volumes of the carotid bodies were measured by applying Simpson's rule to histological sections. In the first group, exposed to chronic hypoxia without relief, there was hypertrophy of the right ventricle and media of the pulmonary trunk and there was an increase of carotid body volume, as compared with the values obtained in the controls. In the recovery group these three measurements had returned almost to normal. The results appear to be applicable to hypoxic cor pulmonale in man. They suggest that hypoxia rapidly produces pulmonary hypertension and its morbid anatomical associations while recovery is equally rapid once the hypoxic stimulus is removed.
Full text
PDF
Images in this article
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Abraham A. S., Kay J. M., Cole R. B., Pincock A. C. Haemodynamic and pathological study of the effect of chronic hypoxia and subsequent recovery of the heart and pulmonary vasculature of the rat. Cardiovasc Res. 1971 Jan;5(1):95–102. doi: 10.1093/cvr/5.1.95. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Edwards C., Heath D., Harris P., Castillo Y., Krüger H., Arias-Stella J. The carotid body in animals at high altitude. J Pathol. 1971 Aug;104(4):231–238. doi: 10.1002/path.1711040404. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Edwards C., Heath D., Harris P. The carotid body in emphysema and left ventricular hypertrophy. J Pathol. 1971 May;104(1):1–13. doi: 10.1002/path.1711040102. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- FULTON R. M., HUTCHINSON E. C., JONES A. M. Ventricular weight in cardiac hypertrophy. Br Heart J. 1952 Jul;14(3):413–420. doi: 10.1136/hrt.14.3.413. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- HEATH D., HELMHOLZ H. F., Jr, BURCHELL H. B., DUSHANE J. W., EDWARDS J. E. Graded pulmonary vascular changes and hemodynamic findings in cases of atrial and ventricular septal defect and patent ductus arteriosus. Circulation. 1958 Dec;18(6):1155–1166. doi: 10.1161/01.cir.18.6.1155. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Heath D., Edwards C., Harris P. Post-mortem size and structure of the human carotid body. Thorax. 1970 Mar;25(2):129–140. doi: 10.1136/thx.25.2.129. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]