Effect of ischemia and antianginal drugs on the distribution of radioactive microspheres in the canine left ventricle.

Radioactive microspheres were used to estimate the changes in regional myocardial blood flow occurring during acute myocardial ischemia. Carbonized 15-fj, spheres were injected into the left atrium of 28 open-chest dogs and the radioactivity of selected areas determined after sacrifice. Acute occlusion of the left circumflex coronary artery produced a significant diminution in the proportion of microspheres reaching the circumflex area. In addition, there was a disproportionate decrease in endocardial radioactivity in the ischemic area (endocardial/epicardial radioactivity ratio falling from 1.17 to 0.76, P < 0.001) but not in the nonischemic area. Both nitroglycerin (0.4 mg) and propranolol (1 mg/kg) failed to cause a significant change in the ratio of circumflex to descendens radioactivity during ischemia. They did, however, cause a significant increase in the ratio of endocardial to epicardial radioactivity in both ischemic and nonischemic areas.