Blood flow distribution in the stomach of cats with gastric ulcer

Ulcer was induced in the anterior wall of the antrum by a subserous injection of 0.3 ml of a 20% acetic acid solution. Carbonized microspheres 15 plus or minus 5 mu in diameter and labelled with 169Yb were used to measure blood flow in different regions and layers of the stomach. Approximately 2-3 million microspheres were injected into the left ventricle of the heart. Simultaneously a blood sample was drawn from the distal aorta at a flow of 1 ml/min. Standardized tissue samples were punched from the lesser curvature and the anterior and posterior walls of the antrum, corpus, and fundus. In each sample the mucosa was separated from the muscularis. The radioactivity of the blood and tissue samples was determined, and the blood flow was calculated for each tissue sample. Three groups of animals were examined: 1) anaesthetized control animals, 2) animals laparotomized one week before examination, 3) animals with a one-week ulcer. In the control animals the blood flow was found to be the same in corresponding regions of the anterior and posterior walls of the stomach. The flow was slightly lower in the antrum than the fundus. The flow was similar in the different regions of the muscularis. The muscularis flow was markedly lower than the mucosa flow. In the laparotomized animals the blood flow was found to be increased in the muscularis of the corpus. In the ulcer animals the mucosa flow was increased in the anterior wall of the antrum, and the muscularis flow was increased in the antrum and the anterior wall of the corpus.