Jw. Doucette et al., EFFECTS OF CARDIAC CONTRACTION AND CAVITY PRESSURE ON MYOCARDIAL BLOOD-FLOW, The American journal of physiology, 265(4), 1993, pp. 80001342-80001352
Regional impairment of cardiac contraction uncouples force generation
from left ventricular pressure (LVP) and may alter the determinants of
the phasic pattern and transmural distribution of coronary flow. In a
nesthetized, open-chest dogs with maximal coronary vasodilation, we st
udied the effects of abolishing local contraction and changing cavity
pressure on phasic myocardial inflow and net transmural flow in a regi
on of left ventricular free wall. With contraction present, the normal
ized amplitude of distal phasic coronary velocity (NAmp) was not signi
ficantly different at normal vs. low LVP (1.00 vs. 0.92 +/- 0.09, resp
ectively, P = NS). With regional contraction abolished by subselective
intracoronary lidocaine, however, NAmp varied with LVP (1.62 +/- 0.25
at normal LVP, 0.85 +/- 0.22 at low LVP, P < 0.0001). With contractio
n present, inner-to-outer flow ratio was not consistently different at
normal vs. low LVP (0.47 +/- 0.15 vs. 0.64 +/- 0.28, respectively, P
= NS) but was consistently higher at low than at normal LVP with contr
action absent (1.01 +/- 0.30 vs. 1.84 +/- 0.38, respectively, P < 0.00
01). During uniform global function, contraction is the main determina
nt of phasic amplitude and transmural distribution of myocardial flow.
When regional contraction is abolished, allowing passive deformation
of the wall during systole, LVP assumes a powerful role.