Experimental pulmonary edema following rapid carotid infusion: mechanism and therapy.

Fifty-five successful experiments were performed on mongrel dogs weighing from 5 to 20 Kg. The procedure consists in the rapid intracarotid infusion toward the brain of physiologic saline solution, amounting to 2.3 times the estimated blood volume. This quantity is injected in three successive doses amounting to S5 per cent, SO per cent, and 65 per cent of the blood volume at intervals of 10 minutes and 5 minutes. Seven minutes after the end of the last infusion, the animal is sacrificed and the lungs are removed. I'lvaluation of edema is based on gross appearance of the lungs and detection of foam in the trachea upon squeezing the lungs, or on the cut surface of the lungs. Moreover, the lung/body ratio was recorded in all cases. The average lung/body ratio of normal dogs in the cool months is 0.86; it may reach 1.1 to 1.2 after large infusions.*