Effect of isoproterenol on the relationship between regional cyclic AMP and local coronary blood flow in the canine myocardium

Bifurcation asymmetry of the porcine coronary vasculature and its implications on coronary flow heterogeneity

The branching pattern of the coronary arteries and veins is asymmetric, i.e., many small vessels branch off of a large trunk such that the two daughter vessels at a bifurcation are of unequal diameters and lengths. One important implication of the geometric vascular asymmetry is the dispersion of blood flow at a bifurcation, which leads to large spatial heterogeneity of myocardial blood flow. To document the asymmetric branching pattern of the coronary vessels, we computed an asymmetry ratio for the diameters and lengths of all vessels, defined as the ratio of the daughter diameters and lengths, respectively. Previous data from silicone elastomer cast of the entire coronary vasculature including arteries, arterioles, venules, and veins were analyzed. Data on smaller vessels were obtained from histological specimens by optical sectioning, whereas data on larger vessels were obtained from vascular casts. Asymmetry ratios for vascular areas, volumes, resistances, and flows of the various daughter vessels were computed from the asymmetry ratios of diameters and lengths for every order of mother vessel. The results show that the largest orders of arterial and venous vessels are most asymmetric and the degree of asymmetry decreases toward the smaller vessels. Furthermore, the diameter asymmetry at a bifurcation is significantly larger for the coronary veins (1.7–6.8 for sinus veins) than the corresponding arteries (1.5–5.8 for left anterior descending coronary artery) for orders 2–10, respectively. The reported diameter asymmetry at a bifurcation leads to significant heterogeneity of blood flow at a bifurcation. Hence, the present data quantify the dispersion of blood flow at a bifurcation and are essential for understanding flow heterogeneity in the coronary circulation.

Spatial heterogeneity of blood flow in the dog heart. II. Temporal stability in response to adrenergic stimulation

The effects of adrenergic stimulation on local myocardial blood flow in the left ventricle were studied in 13 anaesthetized Beagle dogs using the tracer microsphere technique. Adrenergic stimulation was induced by intravenous infusion of orciprenaline (1-2 microg kg-1 min-1) over 15 min or by electrical stimulation of the left ansa subclavia (10 Hz, 1 ms, 4-8 V) over 5 min. Local myocardial blood flow was analysed in 256 samples with an average (+/-SD) mass of 318+/-49 mg from the left ventricular myocardium using a standardized dissection procedure. Orciprenaline increased the average myocardial blood flow from 0.85+/-0.18 to 1.73+/-0.27 ml min-1 g-1, while oxygen consumption and the pressure-rate product increased by 129 and 119% respectively. The coefficients of variation of local myocardial blood flow, a measure of spatial blood flow heterogeneity, were 0.21 and 0.18 under control and orciprenaline respectively. Except for a slight transmural gradient (endomyocardium/epimyocardium flow ratio 1.19) myocardial blood flow did not exhibit significant spatial gradients. Stimulation with orciprenaline increased the average blood flow in all regions of the left ventricle by comparable extents. However, local blood flow during orciprenaline was significantly lower in samples from regions which had a lower blood flow under resting control conditions. A significant positive relationship was obtained between local myocardial blood flow under resting conditions and orciprenaline (r=0.45+/-0.18). Moreover, after recovery from orciprenaline stimulation (i.e. 40-112 min after the end of orciprenaline infusion) local myocardial blood flow exhibited a high degree of correlation with local flow before orciprenaline (r=0.71+/-0.08). Comparable results were obtained with electrical stimulation of the left ansa subclavia. For the comparison stimulation vs. control, the correlation coefficient of local blood flow was 0.52+/-0.04 and for recovery vs. control 0.77+/-0.06. From these results it is concluded firstly that local myocardial blood flow under resting conditions is an important determinant of local flow during adrenergic stimulation. Secondly, the anatomical region does not have any predictive value for the blood flow change during adrenergic stimulation and finally, the close relationship between local blood flow before and after cardiac stimulation indicates that the spatial blood flow heterogeneity is temporally stable over hours.