Morphometic data of the pulmonary artery in the cat's right lung are presented. Silicone elastomer casts of cat's right lung were made, and measured, counted and analyzed. The Strahler system is used to describe the branching pattern of the arterial vascular tree. These data are needed for any quantitative approach to the study of the pulmonary circulation. For all the pulmonary blood vessels of the cat lying between the main pulmonary artery and the capillary beds, there are a total of 10 orders of vessels in the right upper lobe, 9 orders of vessels in the right middle lobe and 11 orders of vessels in the right lower lobe. The ratio of the number of branches in successive orders of vessels or the branching ratio, is 3.58. The corresponding average diameter ratio is 1.72, whereas the average length ratio is 1.81.

Morphometric data of the pulmonary veins in the cat right lung are presented. Silicone elastomer casts of the right lungs of five cats were made, measured, counted, and analyzed. The Strahler system is used to describe the branching pattern of the vascular tree. These data are needed for the physicomathematical approach to pulmonary circulation. For all the pulmonary blood vessels lying between the left atrium and the capillary beds, there are a total of 10 orders of vessels in the right upper lobe, 9 orders of vessels in the right middle lobe, and 11 orders of vessels in the right lower lobe. The ratios of the diameters, lengths, and the number of branches in successive orders of vessels are called the diameter, length, and branching ratios, respectively. For the cat pulmonary venous tree, the average branching ratio is 3.521, the average diameter ratio is 1.727, and the average length ratio is 2.402 for vessels of orders 1-3 and 1.532 for vessels of orders 4-10.

There was a high prevalence of cerebral infarctions when the disease was caused by S. pneumoniae and Salmonella species. Occurrence was highest in the first year of life, and the prognosis in this patient group is poor. Risk factors associated with cerebral infarction in our patients included age 28-365 days, seizures, hydrocephalus, disturbed consciousness on admission, and high CSF lactate concentrations.

The speed of stress waves in the lung parenchyma was investigated to understand why, among all internal organs, the lung is the most easily injured when an animal is subjected to an impact loading. The speed of the sound is much less in the lung than that in other organs. To analyze the dynamic response of the lung to impact loading, it is necessary to know the speed of internal wave propagation. Excised lungs of the rabbit and the goat were impacted with water jet at dynamic pressure in the range of 7-35 kPa (1-5 psi) and surface velocity of 1-15 m/s. The stress wave was measured by pressure transducer. The distance between the point of impact and the sensor at another point on the far side of the lung and the transit time of the stress wave were measured. The wave speed in the goat lung was found to vary from 31.4 to 64.7 m/s when the transpulmonary pressure Pa-Ppl was varied from 0 to 20 cmH2O where Pa represents airway pressure and Ppl represents pleural pressure. In rabbit lung the wave speed varied from 16.5 to 36.9 m/s when Pa-Ppl was varied from 0 to 16 cmH2O. Using measured values of the bulk modulus, shear modulus, and density of the parenchyma, reasonable agreement between theoretical and experimental wave speeds were obtained.

Objectives: To test the hypothesis that low grade inflammation persists after the acute phase and affects arterial stiffness in children with a history of Kawasaki disease. Design and patients: A cohort of 106 children was studied, which comprised 43 patients with Kawasaki disease with coronary aneurysms (group I), 28 patients with Kawasaki disease with normal coronary arteries (group II), and 35 healthy age matched children (group III). Their systemic blood pressure, fasting cholesterol concentrations, serum high sensitivity C reactive protein (hs-CRP) concentrations, and carotid artery stiffness index were compared. Significant determinants of serum hs-CRP concentration and carotid artery stiffness were identified and the relation between hs-CRP concentration and arterial stiffness was investigated. Setting: Tertiary paediatric cardiac centre.