A canine model was developed to record right (RV) and left ventricular (LV) volumes and high-fidelity pressures during acute pulmonary hypertension without the need for major surgery. In this study, new methodology was applied to record high-fidelity RV and LV pressures during cinemagnetic resonance imaging of the heart before and after acute pulmonary hypertension in six anesthetized intact dogs in which the pericardium and thorax were never disturbed by any surgical procedure. After pulmonary embolus, RV systolic pressure increased from 27 + 2 (SD) to 43 +/- 8 mmHg (P < 0.01) as LV systolic pressure decreased (97 +/- 17 to 76 +/- 3 mmHg; P < 0.05). Stroke volume (26 +/- 7 to 21 +/- 5 ml; P < 0.05) and RV ejection fraction (45 +/- 9 to 28 +/- 3%; P < 0.01) decreased as LV ejection fraction was unchanged (50 +/- 5 to 52 +/- 5%; P = NS). LV end-diastolic pressure decreased from 11 +/- 4 to 7 +/- 3 mmHg (P < 0.05), and RV end-diastolic pressure increased from 6 +/- 3 to 11 +/- 3 mmHg (P < 0.01). RV end-diastolic volume increased from 57 +/- 14 to 75 +/- 20 ml (P < 0.01) as LV end-diastolic volumes decreased from 53 +/- 11 to 42 +/- 10 ml (P < 0.01), resulting in no change in total ventricular volume at end diastole (111 +/- 24 to 116 +/- 28 ml). The observed mean decrease of 4.0 mmHg and 11 ml in LV end-diastolic pressure and volume, respectively, was associated with no change in total ventricular volume.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)