P5195

         Eur Respir J 2002 Mar;19(3):422-8

        Effects of lung volume reduction surgery in hamsters with

        elastase-induced emphysema.

        Marchand E, De LP, Gayan-Ramirez G, Palecek F, Verbeken E, Decramer M.

        Laboratory of Pneumology, University Hospitals, Katholieke Universiteit

        Leuven, Belgium.

        Lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS) has been shown to improve

        respiratory mechanics in selected patients with severe emphysema. This

        is thought to be due to an improvement in lung elastic recoil. This

        study was aimed at gaining further understanding about the effects of

        LVRS on respiratory mechanics and airway function. Control hamsters

        instilled with saline (Ctrl; n=8) were compared with emphysematous

        animals that underwent either a sham operation (Sham; n=7) or an LVRS

        (LVRS; n=7). As expected, there was a significant increase in the static

        lung volumes in the Sham as compared to the Ctrl group and a significant

        decrease of these volumes in LVRS as compared to the Sham group.

        Surprisingly, emphysema was associated with a significant increase and

        LVRS with a significant decrease in vital capacity. Despite a tendency

        toward an increase in lung compliance as compared to Sham, indices of

        maximal expiratory flows tended to decrease with LVRS. As opposed to

        humans, there was no change in the distribution of airway diameters in

        Sham compared to Ctrl. These findings appear to be largely explained by

        the high compliance of the hamster chest wall. This allows for better

        matching between the emphysematous lung and the chest-wall sizes than in

        humans.