Nitric oxide in the pulmonary vasculature.

Homeostasis in the pulmonary vasculature is maintained by the actions of vasoactive compounds, including nitric oxide (NO). NO is critical for normal development of the pulmonary vasculature and continues to mediate normal vasoregulation in adulthood. Loss of NO bioavailability is one component of the endothelial dysfunction and vascular pathology found in pulmonary hypertension (PH).

Role of collateral blood flow in the apparent disparity between the extent of abnormal wall thickening and perfusion defect size during acute myocardial infarction and demand ischemia.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that the apparent disparity between the circumferential extent of abnormal wall thickening (WT) and that of infarct size (IS) at rest or size of ischemic zone (IZ) during demand ischemia (DI) is principally due to the effects of collateral blood flow (CollBF).

Background: A disparity has been reported between the circumferential extent of abnormal WT and that of IS at rest or IZ size during DI.

Methods: Wall thickening and CollBF were measured in 18 dogs: at 6 h after coronary occlusion (Group 1, n = 6), and during 40 microg x kg x min(-1) of dobutamine in the presence of either one-vessel (Group 2, n = 6) or two-vessel stenosis (Group 3, n = 6).

Direct effects of dobutamine on the coronary microcirculation: comparison with adenosine using myocardial contrast echocardiography.

The direct effects of dobutamine on capillary blood volume (VOL) and blood flow velocity (VEL) are not known. We hypothesized that these would be more similar to that of adenosine because of its effects on the beta(2) receptors on the coronary circulation. A total of 9 open-chest anesthetized dogs were studied after placement of 2 noncritical stenoses at rest and during separate intracoronary administrations of 5 microg/kg(-1)/min(-1) of adenosine and 2 microg/kg(-1)/min(-1) of dobutamine.

Relation between myocardial oxygen consumption and myocardial blood volume: a study using myocardial contrast echocardiography.

Myocardial blood volume (MBV) is the volume of blood residing in myocardial vessels, 90% of which is in capillaries. MBV can be measured in vivo using myocardial contrast echocardiography (MCE). It has been shown that when increases in coronary blood flow (CBF) are not associated with increase in myocardial oxygen consumption (MVO(2)), MBV does not increase.

Mechanism of inducible regional dysfunction during dipyridamole stress.

Background: We hypothesized that increased myocardial oxygen demand resulting from hypotension and reflex tachycardia unmasking a reduced endocardial myocardial blood flow (MBF) reserve is the mechanism of dipyridamole-induced regional dysfunction in chronic coronary artery disease.

Methods And Results: Ameroid constrictors were placed around the proximal coronary arteries and their major branches in 15 dogs to create chronic coronary stenosis. Seven days later, radiolabeled microsphere-derived MBF and 2-dimensional echocardiography-derived percent wall thickening (%WT) were measured at rest and after 0.