A technique for measuring regional myocardial blood flow and its application in determining the effects of hyperventilation and halothane.

A method for measuring regional myocardial blood flow with a polarographic hydrogen-clearance technique, and its experimental application in dogs, are described. Under pentobarbitone anaesthesia, flow to the superficial (3 mm) and deep (8 mm) layers of the left ventricle was not significantly different. Neither hypocapnia (PaCO2 = 24 mm Hg) nor halothane significantly altered differential distribution of blood flow to the superficial and deep layers of the myocardium. Hypocapnia was followed by a fall in myocardial blood flow (MBF) associated with increased myocardial vascular resistance (MVR). Administration of halothane 0.5 per cent at normal levels of PaCO2 led to a fall in MBF of approximately 20 per cent with no significant changes in MVR.