ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the use of hyperoxia as a method of experimentally inducing acute and chronic lung injury. It also discusses techniques for inducing lung injury in both small and large animal models, the former represented by the rat and the latter by the baboon. Both light and electron microscopic techniques are used to qualitatively and quantitatively evaluate the pathologic characteristics of hyperoxic lung injury and its subsequent repair, as well as to assess the efficacy of any therapeutic intervention. A variety of physiologic parameters have been used to assess the lung injury resulting from hyperoxia. The number of biochemical tests that can be performed to evaluate the effects of hyperoxia on the lung is almost limitless. Although much is known about the pathologic and physiologic changes in the lung resulting from exposure to hyperoxia, a large number of unanswered questions remain regarding the mechanisms, biochemical changes, prevention, and treatment of hyperoxic lung injury.
