Das auch gegenwärtig noch mit einer hohen Letalität behaftete Krankheitsbild des akuten Lungenversagens (ARDS) wird heutzutage mit einer Vielzahl von einzelnen oder kombinierten Therapieansätzen wie drucklimitierter Beatmung mit PEEP, permissiver Hyperkapnie, ECMO oder NO-Inhalation behandelt. Die partielle Flüssigkeitsbeatmung (PLV) mit PFC, ein tierexperimenteller und vereinzelt am Patienten erprobter Therapieansatz, wurde in dieser Studie in Kombination mit additiver NO-Inhalation zur Behandlung des ARDS evaluiert. Bei 12 Schweinen wurde mittels saliner Lungenlavagen ein akutes Lungenversagen (ALI) induziert und eine PLV mit 30 ml PFC/kgKG initiiert. Im Anschluß wurden - jeweils zwischen zwei Kontrollphasen - 1 und 10 ppm NO dem Inspirationsgas zugemischt. Bezüglich der Effekte auf das Gesamtkollektiv kam es unter PLV zu einem signifikanten Anstieg des arteriellen Sauerstoffpartialdruckes, des pulmonalarteriellen und des arteriellen Mitteldruckes, des arteriellen Sauerstoffgehaltes, des arteriellen Kohlendioxidgehaltes und der arteriellen Sauerstoffsättigung des Hämoglobins. Signifikant gesenkt wurden die venöse Beimischung und das Herzzeitvolumen. Die additive NO-Therapie bewirkte bezogen auf das Gesamtkollektiv lediglich zwei signifikante Veränderungen; so wurde die venöse Beimischung unter 10 ppm NO signifikant gesenkt und der inspiratorische Spitzendruck stieg bei den letzten drei Meßzeitpunkten signifikant an. Alle übrigen untersuchten Parameter änderten sich innerhalb des Gesamtkollektives nicht signifikant. Bei Betrachtung der einzelnen Tiere fiel auf, daß 7 Tiere mit einer deutlichen Verbesserung des Gasaustausches unter PLV reagierten (Responder) und 5 Tiere diese Optimierung nicht zeigten (Nonresponder). So stiegen bei den Tieren der Responder-Gruppe der arterielle Sauerstoffpartialdruck, Sauerstoffgehalt und die Sauerstoffsättigung des Hämoglobins sowie der pulmonalarterielle Mitteldruck signifikant an; die venöse Beimischung fiel signifikant ab. Bei den Nonrespondern stieg der pulmonalarterielle Mitteldruck signifikant und deutlich stärker als bei den Respondern an, der Gasaustausch blieb unverändert schlecht. Bei den Tieren der Responder-Gruppe führten die NO-Gaben zu einer weiteren, abermals signifikanten Steigerung des arteriellen Sauerstoffpartialdruckes sowie zu einer signifikanten Senkung des pulmonalarteriellen Mitteldruckes unter 10 ppm NO. In der Nonresponder-Gruppe kam es unter den NO-Inhalationen zu keinen Veränderungen, die signifikant waren. Alle weiteren Parameter zeigten in den beiden Untergruppen keine signifikanten Veränderungen. Zusammenfassend kann festgestellt werden, daß die partielle Flüssigkeitsbeatmung nicht bei allen Tieren mit lavageinduziertem Lungenversagen die arterielle Oxygenierung bessert. Eine additive NO-Inhalation verbessert jedoch bei den Tieren, die unter PLV einen Anstieg des PaO2 zeigen, den Gasaustausch und reduziert die pulmonale Hypertension. Somit ermöglicht die Kombination zweier experimenteller Therapieansätze - partielle Flüssigkeitsbeatmung und additive NO-Inhalation - ein neues, vielversprechendes therapeutisches Konzept. Allerdings erscheinen weitere Untersuchungen notwendig, um mehr über Wechselwirkungen mit anderen Organsystemen, chemische Reaktionen der beiden Substanzen sowie über Kurz- und Langzeitnebenwirkungen dieses kombinierten Therapieansatzes herauszufinden. / Background: Partial liquid ventilation (PLV) can improve PaO2 and pulmonary arterial pressure (PAP) in acute lung injury (ALI). To determine whether NO can further augment this effect we combined PLV and NO in a saline lung lavage model of ALI. Methods: ALI was induced in twelve pigs (25±5kg BW). After instillation of FC 3280®, 1 and 10 ppm NO were administered for 20 minutes each (on-phase), interrupted by 20 minutes without NO inhalation (off-phase). Changes due to NO were calculated as the difference between the on-phase values and the mean of the off-phase values. Results: Following PLV PaO2 increased from 52.1±16.9 mmHg to 134.7±107.8 mmHg (P£ 0.05). Subsequent inhalation of NO led to a significant improvement in PaO2 only in 7 animals who had responded to PLV with an increase in PaO2 ³ 25 mmHg (responder - 1 ppm NO: 181.4±110.5 mmHg vs. 217.5±123.8 mmHg, P£ 0.05; 10 ppm NO: 160.4±115.4 mmHg vs. 209.5±110.9 mmHg, P£ 0.05). Mean PAP increased from 24.8±5.1 mmHg to 32.0±7.4 mmHg (P£ 0.05) following initiation of PLV and decreased during inhalation of both NO doses (1 ppm NO: 32.4±6.8 mmHg vs.30.6±6.0; 10 ppm NO: 34.3±6.8 mmHg vs. 30.0±6.8 mmHg) with a significant improvement only after inhalation of 10 ppm NO when analyzing the responder group separately. Conclusions: PLV may not always improve PaO2 in ALI. Additional inhalation of NO can decrease PAP and further increase oxygenation in animals which demonstrated an improvement in PaO2 with PLV alone.

<p>The breathing pattern of preterm infants is immature and is associated with a variety of reflexes. In a patient on the ventilator these reflexes interfere with spontaneous breathing. A better understanding of the immature control of breathing could lead to further improvements in ventilatory techniques. This thesis concerns studies of pulmonary stretch receptor (PSR) and phrenic nerve activity as part of the regulation of breathing in an animal model. </p><p>During assist/control ventilation with three different inspiratory pressure waveforms in animals with healthy lungs, squarewave pressure waveform<b> </b>strongly inhibits spontaneous inspiratory activity.</p><p>During partial liquid ventilation (PLV) in animals with healthy lungs, all PSRs studied maintained their phasic character, with increased impulse frequency during inspiration. PSR activity was not higher during PLV than during gas ventilation (GV), indicating that there was no extensive stretching of the lung during PLV.</p><p>During proportional assist ventilation (PAV) the applied airway pressure is servo-controlled proportionally to the ongoing breathing effort, thereby interacting with the activity of PSRs. Peak PSR activity was higher and occurred earlier during PAV than during CPAP. The regulation of breathing is maintained during PAV in surfactant-depleted animals before and early after surfactant instillation, with a higher ventilatory response and a lower breathing effort than during CPAP in both conditions.</p><p>Both lung mechanics and gas exchange influence the regulation of breathing. Inhibition of inspiratory activity occurred at a lower arterial pH and a higher PaCO₂ during PLV than during GV in animals with surfactant-depleted lungs, which might be related to recruitment of a larger number of pulmonary stretch receptors during PLV.</p><p>In summary, selected aspects of the regulation of breathing were studied in an animal model with different ventilatory techniques under different lung conditions similar to those that can occur in infants.</p>

The breathing pattern of preterm infants is immature and is associated with a variety of reflexes. In a patient on the ventilator these reflexes interfere with spontaneous breathing. A better understanding of the immature control of breathing could lead to further improvements in ventilatory techniques. This thesis concerns studies of pulmonary stretch receptor (PSR) and phrenic nerve activity as part of the regulation of breathing in an animal model. During assist/control ventilation with three different inspiratory pressure waveforms in animals with healthy lungs, squarewave pressure waveform strongly inhibits spontaneous inspiratory activity. During partial liquid ventilation (PLV) in animals with healthy lungs, all PSRs studied maintained their phasic character, with increased impulse frequency during inspiration. PSR activity was not higher during PLV than during gas ventilation (GV), indicating that there was no extensive stretching of the lung during PLV. During proportional assist ventilation (PAV) the applied airway pressure is servo-controlled proportionally to the ongoing breathing effort, thereby interacting with the activity of PSRs. Peak PSR activity was higher and occurred earlier during PAV than during CPAP. The regulation of breathing is maintained during PAV in surfactant-depleted animals before and early after surfactant instillation, with a higher ventilatory response and a lower breathing effort than during CPAP in both conditions. Both lung mechanics and gas exchange influence the regulation of breathing. Inhibition of inspiratory activity occurred at a lower arterial pH and a higher PaCO2 during PLV than during GV in animals with surfactant-depleted lungs, which might be related to recruitment of a larger number of pulmonary stretch receptors during PLV. In summary, selected aspects of the regulation of breathing were studied in an animal model with different ventilatory techniques under different lung conditions similar to those that can occur in infants.