Left ventricular performance and contractility before and after volume infusion: a comparative study of preterm and full-term newborn lambs

We studied left ventricular performance and contractility after volume loading in lambs at 122 days (group I, n = 9) and 139 days gestational age (group II, n = 9) and in 8-day-old full-term lambs (group III, n = 7). All were mechanically ventilated; each preterm lamb was treated with surfactant to stabilize pulmonary function and the ductus arteriosus was occluded with an inflated catheter balloon. Cineangiograms, left ventricular and vascular pressures, and the isovolumetric index of contractility, first derivative of left ventricular pressure (dP/dt), were recorded before and after three successive whole blood volume infusions of 10 ml/kg (total 30 ml/kg). The left ventricular end-diastolic volume per kilogram and stroke volume per kilogram increased significantly in all groups after volume infusion; these measurements and heart rate and systemic vascular resistance did not differ significantly between the groups either before or after the infusions. The left ventricular peak dP/dt did not change significantly within the groups during the volume infusions. The left ventricular stroke work was greatest in full-term animals and increased significantly in all groups after volume infusion. Thus, the left ventricles of the preterm and full-term lambs had quantitatively similar Frank-Starling responses and there was no increase in contractility during the infusions of whole blood. However, the left ventricle of the full-term lamb is capable of generating greater stroke work than that of the preterm lamb. These findings may contribute to the understanding of development aspects of postnatal circulatory adaptation.

In vitro bioactivity of a synthesized prostaglandin E1-heparin conjugate

A covalently bound conjugate of commercial grade heparin and prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) was synthesized to provide the dual pharmacological role of decreasing the extent of platelet aggregation and inhibiting fibrin formation during thrombogenesis. The compound was synthesized using a modified mixed carbonic anhydride method of amide bond formation between the carboxylic acid moiety of PGE1 and a primary amine group on heparin. Quantitation of coupling was measured spectrophotometrically by monitoring a degradation product of the prostaglandin E1-heparin conjugate (prostaglandin B1-heparin conjugate). Bioactivity tests on the conjugates (activated partial thromboplastin time and platelet aggregation) confirmed that both the anticoagulant activity of heparin and the inhibitory effect of PGE1 on platelet aggregation were maintained.

Hemodynamic effects of high frequency ventilation in surfactant-treated preterm lambs

We compared the hemodynamic status and left ventricular (LV) performance in 7 twin pairs of preterm lambs delivered at 124 days gestational age (83% of term gestation) and ventilated by either conventional ventilation (CV) or high frequency ventilation (HFV) at 15 Hz. The lambs were treated with suspensions of natural sheep surfactant to permit ventilation and survival, and ventilatory settings were adjusted to maintain physiologic blood gas values. The ductus arteriosus was occluded with a balloon catheter at 40-45 min of age to eliminate the variable of a left to right ductal shunt. Cineangiocardiographic, pressure, and blood flow measurements were made 1 and 2 h after ductal occlusion. At the same mean airway pressures, the heart rates, LV end-diastolic volumes, and mean arterial pressures were similar in both groups. LV stroke volumes, ejection fractions, LV outputs, and organ blood flows also did not differ between the two groups. When compared with CV, HFV provides comparable ventilation with no apparent deleterious hemodynamic effects in preterm surfactant-treated lambs with occluded ductus arteriosus.

Effects of high-frequency and conventional ventilation on the premature lamb lung

Twelve sets of twin lambs were delivered prematurely by cesarean section at 133-136 days gestational age and ventilated for 3 h with either high-frequency oscillation (HFO) or conventional mechanical ventilation (CMV). Blood gases and pH values were monitored at 30-min intervals, and ventilator settings were adjusted to maintain CO2 partial pressure (PCO2) values within the normal range. There were no differences in the sequential blood gas or pH values between the HFO or CMV lambs. Mean airway pressures (MAP) between 8.0 and 20.4 cmH2O were required, indicating lung disease of variable severity in the lambs. The bidirectional protein leak from the vascular space to the airways and alveoli and vice versa was measured with radiolabeled albumins given by intravascular injection and with fetal lung fluid at birth. The albumin leaks in both directions increased as MAP required to normalize PCO2 increased, but the degree of leak was independent of type of ventilation. Pathological findings of epithelial necrosis and hyaline membranes occurred to a similar extent in lung sections from both groups of lambs. In the HFO animals less phosphatidylcholine in the alveolar wash and more of a tracer dose of radiolabeled natural surfactant that had been given at birth became tissue associated. These results indicate a decrease in the initial secretion of surfactant and/or a stimulation of reuptake in the HFO animals. HFO did not protect the immature lung from the development of large protein leaks or the pathological changes of the respiratory distress syndrome.

The contractility and performance of the preterm left ventricle before and after early patent ductus arteriosus occlusion in surfactant-treated lambs

The influence of left-right ductal shunting on early hemodynamic responses, namely left ventricular performance, contractility, and systemic perfusion was evaluated in nine preterm lambs (120 days gestational age) treated with surfactant. Blood gases were maintained in the physiological range using mechanical ventilation; hemodynamic and blood flow measurements (radionuclide labeled microspheres) were obtained before and after occlusion of the patent ductus arteriosus with a catheter balloon. The mean left-right ductal shunt before occlusion (1.2 h postnatal age) was 59 +/- 11% SD. Left ventricular output was increased in all lambs with PDA (pre: 306 +/- 106 versus post: 155 +/- 31 ml/min/kg; p less than 0.001); effective systemic blood flow and organ blood flows did not change. The left ventricle end-diastolic volume was increased in all and decreased following ductal occlusion (pre: 2.0 +/- 0.4 versus post: 1.5 +/- 0.2 ml/kg; p less than 0.01). Cardiac rate, ejection fraction, and contractility (peak dP/dt) did not change. Right-left ductal shunting was not detected in six similarly treated lambs. Thus, during the 1st h of life the hemodynamic profile of preterm lambs with patent ductus arteriosus was characterized by large magnitude left-right shunt and a "high" cardiac output state sufficient to maintain unchanged systemic perfusion. The increased left ventricle output was accomplished by increasing end-diastolic volume (Frank-Starling mechanism), but left ventricle contractility remained unchanged. We speculate that the preterm left ventricle may be unable to sustain the high level of pump performance and contractility required to compensate for the ductal "steal" of systemic blood flow.

Distribution of pulmonary blood flow in relation to atelectasis in premature ventilated lambs

To investigate the ability of the preterm, ventilated lung to redirect blood flow away from atelectatic regions, we studied lambs with respiratory distress syndrome and spontaneous atelectasis or atelectasis caused by bronchial obstruction with a balloon catheter. Pulmonary blood flow distributions were measured by quantifying 15-mu, microsphere-associated radioactivity within multiple pieces of lung. Lambs with well aerated or very atelectatic lungs had relatively uniform blood flow/gram lung in all pieces of lung. Blood flow was much less uniform in lungs with both aerated and atelectatic regions. In 9 lambs with spontaneous atelectasis that included 25 +/- 5% (mean +/- SE) of the lungs by weight, blood flow was 29 +/- 4% less to atelectatic than to aerated lung volumes (p less than 0.01). In 5 lambs with well-aerated lungs, 18 +/- 3% of the lung by weight was made atelectatic by balloon occlusion of a major lower lobe bronchus. There was a 44 +/- 11% decrease in blood flow to the atelectatic lung segments. These studies document the ability of the lung of the premature, ventilated lamb to shunt pulmonary blood flow away from atelectatic lung volumes.

Leakage of protein in the immature rabbit lung; effect of surfactant replacement

Immature newborn rabbits, delivered on day 27 of gestation, were ventilated artificially for 60 min, with or without previous treatment with natural surfactant. Insufflation pressure was adjusted to maintain an average tidal volume of about 10 ml/kg. All animals received, before the onset of ventilation, 125I-labeled albumin via the airways and 131I-labeled albumin intravenously. At the end of the experiment 3.1 +/- 1.3% (means +/- SD) of the 131I-albumin had permeated into the alveolar compartment of control animals; the corresponding figures for surfactant-treated animals were 1.7 +/- 0.8% (P less than 0.002). In control animals only 18.2 +/- 4.4% of the 125I-albumin could be recovered from the airspaces after 60 min, whereas 69.9 +/- 14.6% of this label was recovered in surfactant-treated animals (P less than 0.002). Alveolar wash samples from control animals also contained significantly increased activity of surfactant inhibitor, as evaluated with pulsating bubble. The bidirectional flux of protein, including surfactant inhibitor, was thus significantly decreased in these immature lungs by surfactant replacement.

[Primary combined radiotherapy of carcinoma of the uterine cervix. Comparison of 192Ir with radium]

A retrospective study of primary irradiated carcinomas of the uterine cervix was made in order to compare the effect of radium with the effect of a 192Ir afterloading therapy with high dose rate which had been introduced 2 1/2 years before. A group of 31 patients treated with iridium was opposed to a historical control group of 24 patients treated with radium. Both groups were submitted to the same method of simultaneous percutaneous irradiation. All consecutively treated patients exposed to a percutaneous focal dose of greater than 45 Gy were evaluated. The iridium and radium doses applied as well as the values measured in intestine and bladder are presented. The iridium group had the same or a slightly less favorable prognosis (prognostic factors compared: stage, percutaneous dose, histology, age) than the radium group. The remission rates were identical for both therapy methods. Patients treated with iridium have a slightly better curve of recurrence-free interval and survival time, even taking into consideration the shorter observation period. Two out of the patients treated with iridium and four out of those treated with radium presented severe long-term side effects with formation of fistulas (average incidence 12,5 months and 12,7 months after the beginning of therapy, respectively).

Lung protein leaks in ventilated lambs: effects of gestational age

To study the protein permeability properties of the ventilated premature lung, we delivered groups of eight lambs at 122 and 135 days gestational age and ventilated the lambs equivalently. The lambs at 122 days gestational age had been treated with natural sheep surfactant at birth, and both groups of lambs had similar pH and blood gas values to 3 h of age. Three groups of lambs at 146 days gestational age also were studied for comparison; four lambs were ventilated to normalized PCO2 values, four lambs were ventilated equivalently to the premature lambs with supplemental CO2 used to normalize PCO2 values, and four lambs were treated with natural surfactant and ventilated similarly to the preterm lambs. The percent recovery into an alveolar wash and lung tissue of 131I-albumin given by intravascular injection and of 125I-albumin given into the airways was measured in each animal after killing at 3 h of age. Full-term lambs had a small bidirectional leak of albumin to and from the alveoli and lung tissue. The recovery of intravascular 131I-albumin in the alveolar wash was 5.8- and 4.1-fold higher in lambs at 122 and 135 days gestational age, respectively, than in full-term lambs. The loss of 125I-albumin from the airways and alveoli also increased as gestational age decreased. The bidirectional flux of albumin to and from the alveoli increased as gestational age decreased in the prematurely delivered and ventilated lambs.

Modifying the snack food consumption patterns of inner city high school students: the Great Sensations Study

The Great Sensations Program is a nutrition-education project developed for high school students. It was designed to (a) decrease students' consumption of salty snacks and (b) increase students' consumption of fresh fruit snacks. The overall programs were designed following principles of social learning: informative instruction, participatory classroom activities, personal goal setting, feedback, and reinforcement. The program was delivered in six lessons during regular health-education classes. A parental involvement program consisted of mailers and telephone calls to parents to teach them to encourage changes in student snacking habits. A schoolwide program was designed to provide out-of-class peer support for student modifications in salty snack foods. The program was evaluated in one high school using a 2 X 2 design. A second high school served as a no-treatment control. Program assessments were made at both schools before and after the classes, at the end of the school year, and the following fall the next school year following summer vacation. The schoolwide media program was effective in decreasing consumption of salty snack foods and in increasing consumption of target snack foods. However, only those students receiving classroom instruction maintained those changes until the end of the school year. No changes were maintained across summer vacation. These outcomes suggest that school programs developed using principles of social learning may be effective in facilitating important behavior changes at home and at school.

Accumulation of alveolar surfactant following delivery and ventilation of premature lambs

We studied the accumulation of surfactant in the alveoli and airways from birth to 10 h of age in 60 lambs delivered prematurely at a mean gestational age of 136 days. The lambs were delivered by cesarean section and ventilated by varying peak inspiratory pressures only to normalize arterial blood gas and pH values. Alveolar surfactant accumulation was measured either by alveolar wash after timed sacrifice or by repetitive sampling of the airways using an isotope dilution technique. The fall in specific activity of phosphatidylcholine with time was measured after the intratracheal administration of either a trace dose of 3H-labeled natural surfactant and synthetic 14C-dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) at birth or a treatment dose of the same mixture at 5 h of age (about 55 mg of total surfactant lipid/kg body weight). From the change in phosphatidylcholine-specific activities and the quantities and specific activities of phosphatidylcholine measured in alveolar washes, we found that the surfactant pool sizes as estimated by alveolar wash or by the isotope dilution technique were similar. The pool size of alveolar surfactant increased fourfold from birth to 20 min of age and doubled again by 10 h of age. The shape of the curve for the accumulation of alveolar surfactant versus time was independent of the final pool size achieved at 10 h of age. Sonicates of DPPC when mixed with either a trace amount or a treatment dose of natural surfactant were treated by the premature lung in a manner indistinguishable from the phosphatidylcholine associated with natural surfactant.

Clearance of large amounts of natural surfactants and liposomes of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine from the lungs of rabbits

Three-day-old rabbits were given intratracheal injections of radiolabeled natural sheep surfactant, rabbit surfactant, or liposomes of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine that contained greater than three times the quantity of phosphatidylcholine present in the endogenous surfactant pool. The recoveries of radiolabeled phosphatidylcholine and total phosphatidylcholine in alveolar washes, lung tissue, and total lung (alveolar washes plus lung tissue) were measured for 72 h. Approximately half of the two natural surfactants rapidly became lung tissue associated, and phosphatidylcholine derived from the rabbit surfactant was cleared from the total lung twice as rapidly as was the phosphatidylcholine from sheep surfactant (20.7% versus 10.4% of the amount present at zero time/24 h, p less than .05). The alveolar surfactant pool size did not decrease despite the clearance of the exogenously administered material. The liposomes of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine were cleared from the total lung at the same rate as the rabbit surfactant phosphatidylcholine; however, compared to the natural surfactants, much less of this material became lung tissue associated. The administration of the natural rabbit surfactant did not decrease the amount of radiolabeled choline, palmitic acid, or 32P that was incorporated into lung phosphatidylcholine or the amount of labeled phosphatidylcholine that was secreted to the alveoli. However, sheep surfactant increased the percent of radiolabeled phosphatidylcholine recovered by alveolar wash. These experiments document differences in clearance rates, tissue and alveolar association patterns, and subtle effects on endogenous surfactant metabolism for two surfactants and liposomes of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine following intratracheal administration. Uniform metabolic responses should not be anticipated following treatments with different surfactant preparations.

A protein from airways of premature lambs that inhibits surfactant function

A protein that interfered with surfactant function was isolated from the alveolar washes of prematurely delivered and ventilated lambs. This inhibitor was recovered following sequential precipitation with polyethylene glycol, Affi-Gel Blue, and diethylaminoethyl (DEAE) cellulose chromatography as a protein of approximately 110,000 mol wt. Compared to surfactant alone or surfactant and bovine serum albumin, the purified inhibitor increased the time required for surfactant to spread, increased both maximal and minimal surface tensions, increased the percent surface area that had to be compressed to reach a minimum surface tension of less than 15 dyn/cm, and delayed the surface adsorption of surfactant. The effect of inhibitor on the minimum surface tensions of surfactant solutions was inversely related to surfactant concentration. A radioimmunoassay was used to estimate that approximately 10% of the protein from plasma of premature lambs and alveolar washes after 4 h of ventilation was inhibitory. Following the simultaneous intravascular injection of labeled inhibitor and bovine serum albumin, about 4% of the radioactivity associated with both proteins was recovered in alveolar washes and 6% was associated with lung tissue after alveolar wash. This large proportionate leakage of both proteins did not occur in other tissues. The inhibitor affected multiple measurements of surfactant function in vitro and its presence may contribute to a surfactant deficiency state in the immature lung.