Gaetano Perchiazzi

Postoperative lung complications: have multicentre studies been of any help?

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Regional distribution of lung compliance by image analysis of computed tomograms

Computed tomography (CT) can yield quantitative information about volume distribution in the lung. By combining information provided by CT and respiratory mechanics, this study aims at quantifying regional lung compliance (CL) and its distribution and homogeneity in mechanically ventilated pigs. The animals underwent inspiratory hold maneuvers at 12 lung volumes with simultaneous CT exposure at two end-expiratory pressure levels and before and after acute lung injury (ALI) by oleic acid administration. CL and the sum of positive voxel compliances from CT were linearly correlated; negative compliance areas were found. A remarkably heterogeneous distribution of voxel compliance was found in the injured lungs. As the lung inflation increased, the homogeneity increased in healthy lungs but decreased in injured lungs. Image analysis brought novel findings regarding spatial homogeneity of compliance, which increases in ALI but not in healthy lungs by applying PEEP after a recruitment maneuver.

Zero expiratory pressure and low oxygen concentration promote heterogeneity of regional ventilation and lung densities

It is not well known what is the main mechanism causing lung heterogeneity in healthy lungs under mechanical ventilation. We aimed to investigate the mechanisms causing heterogeneity of regional ventilation and parenchymal densities in healthy lungs under anesthesia and mechanical ventilation.

Dynamic Mechanical Interactions Between Neighboring Airspaces Determine Cyclic Opening and Closure in Injured Lung

Objectives: Positive pressure ventilation exposes the lung to mechanical stresses that can exacerbate injury. The exact mechanism of this pathologic process remains elusive. The goal of this study was to describe recruitment/derecruitment at acinar length scales over short-time frames and test the hypothesis that mechanical interdependence between neighboring lung units determines the spatial and temporal distributions of recruitment/derecruitment, using a computational model. Design: Experimental animal study. Setting: International synchrotron radiation laboratory. Subjects: Four anesthetized rabbits, ventilated in pressure controlled mode. Interventions: The lung was consecutively imaged at ~ 1.5-minute intervals using phase-contrast synchrotron imaging, at positive end-expiratory pressures of 12, 9, 6, 3, and 0 cm H2O before and after lavage and mechanical ventilation induced injury. The extent and spatial distribution of recruitment/derecruitment was analyzed by subtracting subsequent images. In a realistic lung structure, we implemented a mechanistic model in which each unit has individual pressures and speeds of opening and closing. Derecruited and recruited lung fractions (F derecruited, F recruited) were computed based on the comparison of the aerated volumes at successive time points. Measurements and Main Results: Alternative recruitment/derecruitment occurred in neighboring alveoli over short-time scales in all tested positive end-expiratory pressure levels and despite stable pressure controlled mode. The computational model reproduced this behavior only when parenchymal interdependence between neighboring acini was accounted for. Simulations closely mimicked the experimental magnitude of F derecruited and F recruited when mechanical interdependence was included, while its exclusion gave F recruited values of zero at positive end-expiratory pressure greater than or equal to 3 cm H2O. Conclusions: These findings give further insight into the microscopic behavior of the injured lung and provide a means of testing protective-ventilation strategies to prevent recruitment/derecruitment and subsequent lung damage.

Effects of superimposed tissue weight on regional compliance of injured lungs

Computed tomography (CT), together with image analysis technologies, enable the construction of regional volume (VREG) and local transpulmonary pressure (PTP,REG) maps of the lung. Purpose of this study is to assess the distribution of VREG vs PTP,REG along the gravitational axis in healthy (HL) and experimental acute lung injury conditions (eALI) at various positive end-expiratory pressures (PEEPs) and inflation volumes. Mechanically ventilated pigs underwent inspiratory hold maneuvers at increasing volumes simultaneously with lung CT scans. eALI was induced via the iv administration of oleic acid. We computed voxel-level VREG vs PTP,REG curves into eleven isogravitational planes by applying polynomial regressions. Via F-test, we determined that VREG vs PTP,REG curves derived from different anatomical planes (p-values<1.4E-3), exposed to different PEEPs (p-values<1.5E-5) or subtending different lung status (p-values<3E-3) were statistically different (except for two cases of adjacent planes). Lung parenchyma exhibits different elastic behaviors based on its position and the density of superimposed tissue which can increase during lung injury.

Atelectasis is inversely proportional to transpulmonary pressure during weaning from ventilator support in a large animal model

In mechanically ventilated, lung injured, patients without spontaneous breathing effort, atelectasis with shunt and desaturation may appear suddenly when ventilator pressures are decreased. It is not known how such a formation of atelectasis is related to transpulmonary pressure (PL) during weaning from mechanical ventilation when the spontaneous breathing effort is increased. If the relation between PL and atelectasis were known, monitoring of PL might help to avoid formation of atelectasis and cyclic collapse during weaning. The main purpose of this study was to determine the relation between PL and atelectasis in an experimental model representing weaning from mechanical ventilation.

THAM administration reduces pulmonary carbon dioxide elimination in hypercapnia – an experimental porcine study

In a previous study, we found a rebound of arterial carbon dioxide tension (PaCO2) after stopping THAM buffer administration. We hypothesized that this was due to reduced pulmonary CO2 elimination during THAM administration. The aim of this study was to investigate this hypothesis in an experimental porcine hypercapnic model.

Robustness of two different methods of monitoring respiratory system compliance during mechanical ventilation.

Robustness measures the performance of estimation methods when they work under non-ideal conditions. We compared the robustness of artificial neural networks (ANNs) and multilinear fitting (MLF) methods in estimating respiratory system compliance (CRS) during mechanical ventilation (MV). Twenty-four anaesthetized pigs underwent MV. Airway pressure, flow and volume were recorded at fixed intervals after the induction of acute lung injury. After consecutive mechanical breaths, an inspiratory pause (BIP) was applied in order to calculate CRS using the interrupter technique. From the breath preceding the BIP, ANN and MLF had to compute CRS in the presence of two types of perturbations: transient sensor disconnection (TD) and random noise (RN). Performance of the two methods was assessed according to Bland and Altman. The ANN presented a higher bias and scatter than MLF during the application of RN, except when RN was lower than 2% of peak airway pressure. During TD, MLF algorithm showed a higher bias and scatter than ANN. After the application of RN, ANN and MLF maintain a stable performance, although MLF shows better results. ANNs have a more stable performance and yield a more robust estimation of CRS than MLF in conditions of transient sensor disconnection.

0897. Mechanisms of pulmonary inflation during lung injury assessed by synchrotron radiation computed tomography

The process of lung inflation during mechanical ventilation is characterized by phenomena of alveolar recruitment and distension but regional interaction and temporal sequence are not known for the core areas of the lung. The only information available are referred to subpleural alveoli, studied by microscopy. Relevance of this issue derives from the notion that 1) radiologic studies reveal that air spaces behavior in the core regions of the parenchyma is very complex 2) unsuited patterns of mechanical ventilation (MV) can trigger a Ventilator-Induced Lung Injury (VILI). Synchrotron Radiation Computed Tomography (SRCT) yields tomographic images at resolutions higher than conventional CT.