Hemodynamic disturbances in the rat as a function of the number of microspheres injected.

The purpose of this study was to reevaluate the radioactive microsphere technique used to measure blood flow distribution. The rats were conscious when studied. A dextrose solution with specific gravity of 1.3 was used as the suspension media instead of 10% dextran, which has previously been shown to cause hypotension. The microspheres were injected into the left atrium, which provided for maximal mixing with the blood before being ejected into the aortic arch. Ficoll-70 was given after each reference sample as a fluid replacement. With these modifications an injection of 360,000 microspheres or less caused no hemodynamic disturbances, as judged by electromagnetic flowmetry. After 1.4 X 10(6) microspheres had accumulated in the rat (several injections) the only significant hemodynamic disturbance was a decreased heart rate. This study establishes the limits in the rat regarding the number of microspheres that can be injected before hemodynamic disturbances result.