Measurement of splenic blood flow in the anaesthetised dog using electromagnetic flowmetry and indium labelled platelets.

Splenic blood flow has been measured in the dog using indium labelled autologous platelets (SBFp) and compared with splenic blood flow measured with an electromagnetic flowmeter placed on the splenic vein (SVBF). The overall correlation between SBFp and SVBF was only moderately close (r = 0.54, P less than 0.01) and SBFp was about half SVBF. When expressed as a change between sequential measurements in an individual animal, the correlation between SBFp and SVBF was closer (r = 0.85, P less than 0.001). It was concluded that SBFp is a specific measure of splenic pulp blood flow and that the discrepancy between SBFp and SVBF reflects the degree of splenic blood flow bypassing the pulp.