MICROSPHERES IN CARDIAC LYMPH: CONTROL AND ISCHEMIC STATES
Abstract
The cardiac lymph from conscious animals was moni tored for the presence or absence of radiolabelled 15 micrometer microspheres during: a) control periods after left atrial injection of microspheres and b) after circumflex coronary artery (CFX) occlusions (10-20 min total or< 40 mins 50% of control flow) followed by full reperfusions. Microspheres (15 µ) numbering 7- 150 were present in the lymph within 2 hrs after the occlusions; and in three experiments, the presence of a small number in the lymph on the following day implied continual release overnight . No microspheres were present in 8-48 hr lymph samples prior to occlusions. This study suggests that some microspheres escape from the intravascular spaze of the myocardium and are channeled into the cardiac lymphatics; this is apparent even after short-term ischemic events.