Extensibility of the pulmonary trunk in heart disease.

Structural Abnormalities of the Pulmonary Trunk in Tetralogy of Fallot and Potential Clinical Implications

“…The lower PT/Ao MT ratio (or thinner PT media), which relates to higher PT HGS (Fig. 4), also suggests reduced elastin content (14,20,26), potentially leading to lower extensibility of pulmonary arteries (27,28).…”

Histology, extensibility, and chemical composition of pulmonary trunk in persons living at sea-level and at high altitude in Peru.

“…The tissue of the media of the normal adult pulmonary trunk shows a greater degree of extensibility than does that of the aorta (Harris and Heath, 1962;Harris, Heath, and Apostolopoulos, 1965a). This may be due to the lower proportion of elastin in the pulmonary trunk, but differences in the proportion of collagen may also play a part.…”

“…This may be due to the lower proportion of elastin in the pulmonary trunk, but differences in the proportion of collagen may also play a part. Throughout life, there is a progressive decrease in the extensibility of the tissue of the pulmonary trunk, and this has been ascribed to the apparent increase in the proportion of collagen visible under the microscope (Harris et al, 1965a).…”

“…The extensibility ofthe tissue ofthe pulmonary trunk is less than normal in such patients (Harris, Heath, and Apostolopoulos, 1965b). By contrast, when pulmonary hypertension arises later in life, as a result of a pre-tricuspid shunt or mitral stenosis, the elastic tissue of the pulmonary trunk remains of the normal adult type (Heath et al, 1959), and the extensibility of the wall is normal (Harris et al, 1965b).…”

Main Pulmonary Arterial Distensibility Different Presentation Between Chronic Pulmonary Hypertension and Acute Pulmonary Embolism

“…Some studies of PA compliance have suggested that PA distensibility decreases with rising pulmonary arterial pressure. 1,2 While PA distensibility in patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH) can be investigated non-invasively by magnetic resonance imaging, [3][4][5] this modality is expensive and time-consuming, and it cannot be performed at a patient bedside. Therefore, based on the premise that there is a difference in PA elasticity in acute pulmonary embolism (PE) and chronic PH, we designed this study to find out if non-invasive echocardiography could be used to compare PA distensibility in normal subjects, and subjects with PH and PE.…”