Myocardial infarction in the baboon: regional function and the collateral circulation.

Occlusion of the anterior descending coronary artery was produced in sedated baboons 7-15 days after implantation of a micromanometer and ultrasonic crystals for measurement of regional left ventricular dimensions in ischemic, marginal, and control segments. One minute after coronary occlusion (CO), ischemic segments exhibited a marked systolic bulge with wall thinning, and percent systolic shortening of marginal segments decreased. Over the ensuing weeks, there was a progressive increase of end-diastolic lengths in marginal and ischemic segments, whereas systolic shortening in these segments did not improve significantly. Control segments did not change. In control baboons, the coronary collateral index was 55 +/-25 (SE) compared to 560 +/- 74 in normal dogs. One month after CO, the collateral index was 543 +/- 144 in baboons compared to 6,685 +/- 716 in dogs, regions of normal tissue were seen in the infarct (14.2 +/- 2% of left ventricular mass). Minimal coronary collateral development in the baboon provides a likely explanation for differences from the dog in regional functional responses and in the character of the infarct.