Microvascular pressure measurement reveals a coronary vascular waterfall in arterioles larger than 110 microm.

Pressure-flow relationships at the entrance of the coronary circulation in the diastolic myocardium exhibit a zero-flow pressure intercept (P(int)). We tested whether this intercept is the same throughout the vascular bed. Microvascular pressure-flow relationships were therefore measured in vessels of various sizes of the maximally dilated vasculature of perfused unstimulated papillary muscle using the servo-null technique. From these relationships, P(int) were calculated with nonlinear regression. The P(int) at the level of the septal artery (diameter, 150-250 microm) was 23.2 +/- 4.4 cmH2O (n = 12). In arterioles with a diameter range between 24 and 110 microm, P(int) was 1.7 +/- 0.5 cmH2O (n = 6, P < 0.01), significantly lower than in the septal artery but significantly higher than zero, and not dependent on vessel size. In venules with the same diameters, P(int) was 1.1 +/- 1.1 cmH2O (n = 4), which was not different from zero. We conclude that, in the dilated vascular bed of the papillary muscle, two vascular waterfalls are found. The first waterfall is located in arterioles between 150 and 110 microm. The second waterfall is probably located in the small postcapillary venules.