J. Schnader et al., CHRONIC PULMONARY-HYPERTENSION IN SHEEP - TEMPORAL PROGRESSION OF LESIONS, The Journal of surgical research, 62(2), 1996, pp. 243-250
Scant data exist on the evolution of the lesions of pulmonary hyperten
sion, This study establishes a model in sheep in which the left upper
lobe (LUL) was rendered hypertensive by a systemic-pulmonary shunt whi
le the rest of the pulmonary circulation remained normotensive. By exa
mining lung tissue at 2 months and 1 1/2 years after shunting, we soug
ht the temporal progression of pulmonary hypertensive lesions, In the
hypertensive LULs (n = 5), many vascular lesions were seen in contrast
to the absence of lesions in both the contralateral normotensive lung
s (n = 5) and the ''control'' lungs from sheep which underwent thoraco
tomy without shunting (n = 5), Vascular necrosis and vasculitis were p
resent after 2 months (P < 0.01) but disappeared after 1 1/2 years. In
contrast, intimal thickening was present after 1 1/2 years (n = 2, P
< 0.01) but not significantly after 2 months, These intimal lesions of
ten demonstrated increased cellularity staining positively for factor
VIII, Plexiform lesions were present at 2 months (P < 0.05) but were m
ore profuse after 1 1/2 years (P < 0.01). These findings are consisten
t with an early vascular injury and a later remodeling or reparative p
rocess in hemodynamic pulmonary hypertension. (C) 1996 Academic Press,
Inc.