Effects of time on volume and distribution of coronary collateral flow.

Changes in the volume and distribution of collateral blood flow were studied during the 1st h after coronary occlusion in nine open-chest dogs. Labeled microspheres (7-10 mum) were injected into the left atrium prior to and 20 s, 5 min, and 60 min after acute occlusion of the midcircumflex coronary artery so that myocardial perfusion to small segments of the entire left ventricle could be measured. The segmental perfusions were classified as normally perfused, severely hypoperfused, moderately hypoperfused, and borderline hypoperfused. Standard hemodynamic measurements were obtained and relative coronary vascular resistance to the normally perfused and hypoperfused zones was calculated. The principal conclusions of the study are as follows: 1) during the 1st h after coronary occlusion the collateral flow to the hypoperfused myocardium increases substantially; 2) the increase in collateral flow is distributed fairly evenly to various hypoperfused zones and is associated with a marked decrease in coronary vascular resistance; and 3) as a result of this influx in collateral flow the size of the hypoperfused area decreases and the relative proportion of severely hypoperfused segments within the hypoperfused area decreases.