Alterations in Lung Function and Anatomy in Heart Failure with Particular Reference to Mitral Stenosis

¹ Sara Welt Fellow in Medicine., The Department of Medicine and the Cardiographic Laboratory, The Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, N. Y.
² The Department of Medicine and the Cardiographic Laboratory, The Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, N. Y.

The effects of cardiac disease on the lung have been discussed with particular references to the congestive failure state. In addition, those factors peculiar to rheumatic heart disease, when it is the cause of this failure, have been emphasized. The sequence of events starts with elevation of the left atrial pressure, leading in turn to changes in the pulmonary hemodynamics and pulmonary blood volume. These in turn produce changes in the pulmonary ventilation perfusion relationships which have been described. The complicating anatomical alterations which are secondary to the pressure alterations have also been discussed.