[Relative volume of open capillaries in the skeletal muscles of rats with chronic local arterial hypotension].

A modification of Pickworth's method for detection of open capillaries was used. The modification is based on freezing an organ in situ with liquid propane, cooled with liquid nitrogen, followed by lyophilization of the preparation and its fixation in gaseous formaldehyde. It was shown in rat experiments that the number of functioning capillaries in m. gastrocnemius and m. soleus 14 and 90-12 days after reduction of pressure in the hindquarter of the body with the narrowing of the abdominal aorta lumen was practically the same as that in the control animals. The data support the view that reduction of the hydraulic resistance in the area of regional hypotension does not correlate with increase in the number of parallel-functioning vessels.