Regional Blood Flow Studies with Labelled Microspheres of Different Sizes in Dogs with and without Occlusion of the Common Bile Duct

Abstract

Arteriovenous shunting in visceral organs was studied by simultaneous injection of 15 ± 5 and 50 ± 10 (SD) µ<i>m </i>microspheres labelled with different isotopes into the left atrium of unanesthetized, unsedated dogs, pentobarbital anesthetized dogs, unanesthetized and unsedated dogs as well as anesthetized dogs subjected to a 1-week’s biliary stasis, and anesthetized dogs subjected to a 6-weeks’ biliary stasis. All dogs showed moderate shunting of the smaller spheres in the stomach. Dogs subjected to a 1-week’s biliary stasis demonstrated signs of shunting also in the jejunum-ileum. All anesthetized dogs, both with and without biliary obstruction, showed signs of substantial shunting outside the visceral area. In dogs subjected to a 1-week’s biliary stasis the liver blood flow was increased owing to increased flow through the hepatic artery.