Measurement of blood flow to the vertebral bone and disc.

Measurements of blood flow were made in the endplate and disc of the vertebrae in adult sheep. In anaesthetised animals, radioactively labelled microspheres were injected into the left ventricle and blood withdrawn from the brachial artery. The lumbar spine was then removed and sectioned to measure microsphere deposition. Blood flow in the bony endplate was found to be 4.22 +/- 0.59 ml/min 100 g, and flow of 0.57 +/- 0.29 ml/min 100 g was also measured in regions of the disc adjoining the endplate. No significant flow was recorded in the central region of the disc. This work has clinical significance in relation to spinal infections and also to the pathogenesis of degenerative disc disease.