Distribution of capillaries and diffusion distances in guinea pig myocardium.

A frequency distribution of distances from random points to the nearest capillary was generated from high-magnification photomicrographs of thin sections of the myocardium of seven guinea pigs. Individual mean capillary densities taken from regions viewed in transverse section ranged from approximately 1800 to 2500 capillaries/mm2. Mean (R) and maximal (R95) diffusion distances measured by the closest individual method ranged from R = 6.6 to 8.7 microns and R95 = 11 to 18 microns. Further mathematical analysis of the frequency distributions of diffusion distances indicated that the capillaries of the myocardium are distributed in an ordered array.