Vasa vasorum hypoperfusion is responsible for medial hypoxia and anatomic remodeling in the newborn lamb ductus arteriosus.

Postnatal constriction of the full-term ductus arteriosus produces hypoxia of the muscle media. This is associated with anatomic remodeling (including smooth muscle death) that prevents subsequent reopening. We used late-gestation fetal and neonatal lambs to determine which factors are responsible for the postnatal hypoxia. Hypoxia [measured by 2-(2-nitro-1H-imidazol-1-yl)-N-(2,2,3,3,3-pentafluoropropyl) acetamide technique] and cell death (measured by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling technique) were observed in regions of the constricted ductus wall within 4 h after delivery. Although there was a decrease in ductus luminal flow during the first 6 h after delivery (measured by Doppler transducer), the amount of oxygen delivered to the ductus lumen (3070 +/- 1880 micromol O2 x min(-1) x g(-1)) far exceeded the amount of oxygen consumed by the constricted ductus (0.052 +/- 0.021 micromol O2 x min(-1) x g(-1), measured in vitro). Postnatal constriction increased the effective oxygen diffusion distance across the ductus wall to >3x the limit that can be tolerated for normal tissue homeostasis. This was owing to both an increase in the thickness of the ductus (fetus, 1.12 +/- 0.20 mm; newborn, 1.60 +/- 0.17 mm; p < 0.01) and a marked reduction in vasa vasorum flow (fetus, 0.99 +/- 0.44 mL x min(-1) x g(-1); newborn, 0.21 +/- 0.08 mL x min(-1) x g(-1); p < 0.01). These findings suggest that hypoxic cell death in the full-term ductus is caused primarily by changes in vasa vasorum flow and muscle media thickness and can occur before luminal flow has been eliminated. We speculate that in contrast with the full-term ductus, the preterm ductus is much less likely to develop the degree of hypoxia needed for vessel remodeling inasmuch as it only is capable of increasing its oxygen diffusion distance to 1.3x the maximally tolerated limit.