Hemodynamic modelling of vascular occlusion experiments in cat lung

There is considerable practical interest in attempting to understand the relationship between the structure and function of the pulmonary vascular bed from measurements of pulmonary arterial and venous pressures and flow. To this end, hemodynamic analyses of the information contained in the transient arterial and venous pressure curves following occlusion of the venous outflow (VO), the arterial inflow (AO) or both (DO) have been useful. In an attempt to better understand the information content of the occlusion data, we have used a compartmental model in which the cat lung is represented by eleven orders each of arteries and veins connected by the capillary sheet.