The fine structure of pulmonary contusion and the effect of various drugs.

The results of contusion were examined by electron and light microscopy in the lungs of rats. It was found that the results here were very similar to those elsewhere in the body, with a few minor modifications due to the unique structure of the lung. Densitometry of protein concentration and visual estimation of oedema were used to quantitate the effects on the injury. The benzo-pyrone drug Venalot had a considerable effect in reducing the protein concentration in the air spaces and the interstitial tissue, and of the oedema in the latter. Neither the proteinase inhibitor Trasylol nor the pectin-based plasma expander HAS had any significant effect on the fine structural alterations of pulmonary contusion.