Severe anemia is associated with remarkable stability of pulmonary gas exchange (S. Deem, M. K. Alberts, M. J. Bishop, A. Bidani, and E. R. Swenson. J. Appl. Physiol. 83: 240–246, 1997), although the factors that contribute to this stability have not been studied in detail. In the present study, 10 Flemish Giant rabbits were anesthetized, paralyzed, and mechanically ventilated at a fixed minute ventilation. Serial hemodilution was performed in five rabbits by simultaneous withdrawal of blood and infusion of an equal volume of 6% hetastarch; five rabbits were followed over a comparable time. Ventilation-perfusion (V˙a/Q˙) relationships were studied by using the multiple inert-gas-elimination technique, and pulmonary blood flow distribution was assessed by using fluorescent microspheres. Expired nitric oxide (NO) was measured by chemiluminescence. Hemodilution resulted in a linear fall in hematocrit over time, from 30 ± 1.6 to 11 ± 1%. Anemia was associated with an increase in arterial [Formula: see text] in comparison with controls ( P < 0.01 between groups). The improvement in O2 exchange was associated with reducedV˙a/Q˙heterogeneity, a reduction in the fractal dimension of pulmonary blood flow ( P = 0.04), and a relative increase in the spatial correlation of pulmonary blood flow ( P = 0.04). Expired NO increased with anemia, whereas it remained stable in control animals ( P < 0.0001 between groups). Anemia results in improved gas exchange in the normal lung as a result of an improvement in overallV˙a/Q˙matching. In turn, this may be a result of favorable changes in pulmonary blood flow distribution, as assessed by the fractal dimension and spatial correlation of blood flow and as a result of increased NO availability.
