The effect of unilateral pulmonary microembolization on regional lung extravascular fluid accumulation was determined in dogs. Embolization was produced by injecting 100-micrometer-diam glass beads (0.25 g/kg) into the right pulmonary artery. After embolization of one lung, pulmonary arterial pressure (Ppa) and pulmonary vascular resistance increased (P less than 0.05) from base-line values of 11.7 +/- 1.3 to 17.9 +/- 1.3 Torr and of 3.4 +/- 0.5 to 5.5 +/- 0.5 Torr/(1/min). Blood flow to embolized lung measured with labeled microspheres decreased from 104.2 +/- 24.9 to 35.2 +/- 9.2 ml/min.g bloodless lung after embolization, whereas flow to the normal lung increased from 43.1 +/- 5.6 to 71.2 +/- 19.2 ml/min.g bloodless lung. Extravascular lung water-to-bloodless dry lung weight ratio (W/D) of 4.97 +/- 0.32 was greater (P less than 0.001) in the embolized lung than the value of 3.34 +/- 0.15 in nonembolized lung. In six dogs pretreated with 500 U/kg of heparin, a similar degree of duration of embolization and similar hemodynamic changes did not result in significant differences in W/D (3.88 +/- 0.18 in right lung vs. 3.02 +/- 0.53 in the left lung), and the right lung ratio was less (P less than 0.05) than the value in the heparinized dogs, suggesting that humoral mechanisms contribute to the genesis of pulmonary edema after regional embolization. Therefore, unilateral embolization leads to a greater increase in extravascular content in the embolized lung than in the nonembolized lung. Because Ppa was in the normal range after embolization, regional pulmonary edema may be due partly to the local release of factors that increase lung vascular permeability.