Pulmonary oedema at necropsy: a combined pathological and radiological method of study.

Fixation of lungs at necropsy by inflation with formaldehyde vapour was used in a combined radiological and pathological study of pulmonary oedema. Pulmonary oedema was found in 79% of lungs examined. The earliest phases affect the interstitial tissue with oedematous connective tissue planes and distension of pulmonary lymphatics. These changes may be associated with reduction in the compliance of the lung. Alveolar filling is a late stage in the accumulation of oedema fluid in the lungs.