title: Dynamics of flow velocities in endocardial and epicardial coronary arterioles.
abstract: The subendocardium is the most vulnerable area of the left ventricle to the effects of hypoperfusion and ischemia. Despite this well-acknowledged observation, the mechanisms underlying this susceptibility are not elucidated, although numerous explanations including differences in transmural distribution of hemodynamics, metabolism, and wall stresses have been proposed. Our goal was to make dynamic measurements of endocardial and epicardial flow velocities, which reflect hemodynamic and wall stresses, to approach this problem. We measured blood flow velocities in subendocardial and subepicardial coronary arterioles of in vivo beating canine hearts using a high-speed, charge-coupled device, intravital videomicroscope with a rod-probe lens. Subendocardial flow was characterized by remarkable systolic flow-velocity reversal (systolic slosh ratio, 84%; measurable velocity of retrograde flow, faster than -40 mm/s), which contrasted to predominant forward-flow velocity during systole in the subepicardial arterioles (systolic slosh ratio, 25%; maximum velocity, approximately -20 mm/s; P < 0.0005 and 0.05 vs. subendocardial arterioles, respectively). We speculate that this retrograde flow is "wasteful," because this volume must be refilled during the subsequent diastole, which thereby detracts from the net perfusion as well as the time for perfusion. Accordingly, we also believe that the retrograde systolic blood flow contributes to the vulnerability of the subendocardium to ischemia.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Cardiology, Kawasaki Medical School, 577 Matsushima, Kurashiki, Okayama 701-0192, Japan. etoyota@med.kawasaki-m.ac.jp
authors.forename: Eiji
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Toyota
authors.forename: Yasuo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ogasawara
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Hiramatsu
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tachibana
authors.forename: Fumihiko
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kajiya
authors.forename: Shinji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yamamori
authors.forename: William M
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Chilian
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001160:Arterioles / Q000502:physiology; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity / Q000502:physiology*; D003326:Coronary Circulation / Q000502:physiology*; D004285:Dogs; D004699:Endocardium / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D018715:Microscopy, Video / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D009200:Myocardial Contraction / Q000502:physiology; D010496:Pericardium / Q000502:physiology*; D012212:Rheology