The quantitation of blood flow/metabolism coupling at rest and after exercise in peripheral arterial insufficiency, using PET and 15-0 labeled tracers.

Regional blood flow and oxygen uptake of the lower limbs were studied in 11 patients with arterial insufficiency (10 with severe unilateral, 1 with bilateral intermittent claudication). Regional muscle blood flow (F), oxygen consumption rate (R), and oxygen extraction fraction (E) were evaluated by positron emission tomography (PET) and bolus inhalation of C15O2 and 15O2 by the patient. Tomograms were recorded at the greatest diameter of legs, at rest and ten minutes after a treadmill walk test leading to the development of ischemic pain in the affected leg. In 5 patients, F and E were correlated with the results of occlusive venous strain gauge plethysmography and with the measurements of blood gases in one brachial artery and in the femoral vein of the affected limb. Blood flow values measured at rest and after exercise by PET were poorly correlated with the plethysmographic findings. This may be because PET does not interfere with flow as venous occlusion plethysmography does in low peripheral pressure conditions. The results show that F, R, and E were not significantly different in normal and pathologic legs at rest. The values of F and R were significantly higher in pathologic than in normal lower limbs, ten minutes after exercise, whereas E was not significantly altered by exercise at any side. This suggests that, during the recovery from a walk test, the delayed increase in oxygen uptake is proportional to the delayed hyperemia in the ischemic muscles ("oxygen debt") and probably not linked to a luxury perfusion.