Background: Perfluorocarbon (PFC) liquid can improve gas exchange in acute lung injury. How PFC aerosol is distributed in the lung is unknown.
Methods: We induced lung injury in rabbits with saline lavage, followed by mechanical ventilation in the supine position. The animals were divided into three groups: a control group, a group treated with partial liquid ventilation and a group given nebulized perfluorocarbon (PF 5080). We made CT image slices of the excised lungs. In the apical, middle and caudal slices we defined three regions of interest, from anterior to posterior, and noted the mean attenuation of each area. We also studied two rabbits which had not received lung injury or mechanical ventilation.
Results: Group means were different between the normal rabbits and all three study groups. There was a difference between the control and partial liquid ventilation groups, and between the partial liquid ventilation and nebulized groups, but no difference between the nebulized and control groups. Within each treatment group, there was no regional difference in the distribution of density.
Conclusions: PF 5080 is not deposited in large amounts by aerosol. Less PFC was found in the lungs after partial liquid ventilation than expected. Within treatment groups, lung densities indicate less gravitational and regional differences than found in other studies.