The influence of an agonal phase on the vascular resistance of the kidney measured during hypothermic perfusion studies.

The influence of the agonal phase on the rabbit renal vascular resistance during warm ischemia was studied in 24 hypothermic perfusion experiments. The agonal phase was induced by tracheal clamping in anesthetized animals. The interval from strangulation to cardiac arrest was, on average, 8.1 min. Kidneys were removed between 0 and 60 min after cardiac arrest. Comparison with an earlier study where warm ischemia was induced by clamping of the renal artery shows that the agonal phase is not a significant factor in that renal vascular resistance is not increased.