Effects of vaporized perfluorohexane and partial liquid ventilation on regional distribution of alveolar damage in experimental lung injury

Objective To determine whether the patterns of distribution of histological effects of vaporized perfluorohexane (PFH) and partial liquid ventilation (PLV) differ significantly in acute lung injury. Design and setting Experimental study in an animal research laboratory. Subjects Eighteen pigs. Interventions After induction of acute lung injury by means of infusion of oleic acid animals were randomly assigned to PFH, PLV, or gas ventilation (GV) groups. Six hours thereafter animals were killed, and lung tissue samples were taken for analysis. Measurements and results Histopathological analysis revealed less damage with PFH than with GV or PLV in the nondependent and central regions. PFH and PLV showed less injury in the dependent regions than GV. GV and PFH were associated with less histological damage in the nondependent than the dependent regions, whereas PLV presented the opposite pattern. Morphometric analysis showed increased aeration in nondependent than dependent regions with PFH and GV. PLV led to more aeration in the periphery than in central areas. Conclusions PFH was associated with a more homogeneous attenuation of alveolar damage across the lungs, although this therapy had more pronounced effects in nondependent zones. PLV showed the opposite pattern, with more important reduction in alveolar damage in dependent lung regions. Interestingly, reduction in alveolar damage with PFH was as effective as with PLV in dependent zones. Our findings suggest that vaporized perfluorocarbon could be advantageous as adjunctive therapy in the treatment of acute lung injury. Electronic supplementary material Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at and is accessible for authorized users. This work was supported by grant nos. AB 135/1-1 and HU 818/3-1 from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), Bonn, Germany An erratum to this article can be found at