We determined the effect of pulmonary hypoperfusion on extravascular water accumulation in anesthetized dogs by occluding the left pulmonary artery for 3 h and then reperfusing it for 24 h. The lung was reperfused either at normal left atrial pressure (Pla) or during increased Pla induced by a left atrial balloon. In each case the extravascular water content-to-bloodless dry weight ratio (W/D) of the left lung was compared with that of the right lung. The W/D of the left lung of 3.26 +/- 0.49 ml/g was not significantly different from the value of 2.87 +/- 0.37 for the right lung after the reperfusion at normal Pla. However, the W/D of the left lung of 5.10 +/- 0.38 ml/g was greater (P less than 0.05) than the value of 4.42 +/- 0.34 for the right lung after reperfusion at Pla of 25 Torr. This difference could not be prevented by pretreatment with heparin, suggesting that the increase in lung water content was not due to activation of intravascular coagulation secondary to stasis occurring during the occlusion. Because the left lung was more edematous than the right one, even though both lungs had been subjected to the same increase in Pla, the results suggest that a period of pulmonary hypoperfusion causes an increase in the interstitial protein concentration.