Modeling of oxygen transport to skeletal muscle: blood flow distribution, shunt, and diffusion.

By injection of embolizing microspheres, by local radioactive xenon clearance and by inert gas washout in resting and stimulated gastrocnemius dog preparation, experimental evidence for unequal blood flow distribution and for shunt flow has been provided. Model calculations show that in some respect unequal blood flow and shunt produce effects predicted for a homogeneous model with diffusion limitation of O2 supply. This finding must be taken into account when the role of diffusion limitation to O2 supply is to be ascertained.