• Jean-Damien Ricard, Franck Iserin, Didier Dreyfuss, and Georges Saumon.
• INSERM, U722, UFR de Médecine Paris 7-Denis Diderot, Paris, France.
• Crit. Care Med. 2007 Feb 1; 35 (2): 561-7.

ObjectivesRandomized controlled trials of partial liquid ventilation in acute respiratory distress syndrome have been negative. Reasons for this failure may reside in the use of too large doses of perfluorocarbon. The objective was to evaluate whether various doses of perflubron affect ventilation-induced injury in edematous lungs in different ways.DesignProspective, controlled animal study.SettingResearch laboratory of a university.SubjectsMale Wistar rats weighing 300+/-20 g.InterventionsSeparate groups of rats were injected with alpha-naphtylthiourea to produce mild permeability pulmonary edema. They were then given 0, 7 (low), 13 (moderate), or 20 mL/kg (near functional residual capacity) perflubron doses and mechanically ventilated with a large (33 mL/kg) tidal volume for 15 mins.Measurements And Main Results125I-albumin distribution space was used to assess lung microvascular permeability. Quasi-static respiratory system pressure-volume curves were analyzed. Administration of low and moderate perflubron doses significantly improved respiratory mechanics and reduced the ventilator-induced permeability alterations to the level observed in rats that were not ventilated. By contrast, a perflubron dose that was near functional residual capacity increased end-inspiratory plateau pressure and aggravated the permeability alterations due to high tidal volume ventilation.ConclusionsNear functional residual capacity but not low perflubron dose worsens ventilation-induced lung injury of preinjured lungs. This may provide some explanation for the negative results of the recent clinical trials, and it stresses the importance of the amount of perflubron used for partial liquid ventilation.

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