Abstract
Having documented that OA leads to significant LH in the fetal guinea-pig, we looked to see if the effect varied with the timing of onset and the duration of OA. OA was induced by creating amnio-peritoneal fistulas in 4 experimental groups: I, long term OA early (d 40-50); II, long term OA late (d 45-55); III, short term OA early (d 45-50); IV, short term OA late (d 50-55). For each group, untouched littermate or gestational age-matched fetuses were used as controls. OA was documented by lack of amniotic fluid (AF) at sacrifice in each experimental animal (N=23)whereas controls had normal AF volumes (N=23). Lung DNA content was used as an index of cell number. Since there was a slight but not significant difference in body weight, we expressed the values as lung DNA per gram of fetal weight. Significant differences (p<.005) were found in groups I, II, III. The "magnitude" of the effect, (i.e. the percentage difference between experimental and control values) was as follows: I:-38%; II:-26%; III:-24%; IV:-14%. This experimental study confirms the clinical impression that the earlier the onset of OA and the longer its duration, the greater is the impact on lung growth. Morphometric studies of 4 lungs in group III showed that the experimental lungs had lower volumes (83%), lower volumetric density of lung parenchyma (95%), less total # of alveolar-like structures (74%), lower ISA (84%) and a disproportionate reduction in total length of elastic tissue (47%).
Article PDF
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Moessinger, A., Collins, M., Blanc, W. et al. OLIGOHYDRAMNIOS (OA)-INDUCED LUNG HYPOPLASIA (LH): INFLUENCE OF TIMING AND DURATION, (ANIMAL MODEL). Pediatr Res 18 (Suppl 4), 336 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198404001-01458
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198404001-01458