Influence of subendocardial ischemia on transmural myocardial function

The relationship between regional myocardial perfusion and function under ischemic conditions was examined by using a nontraumatic single-crystal pulsed Doppler system that permits complete transmural assessment of myocardial thickening. Sixteen open-chest dogs underwent either 50 (n = 4) or 180 (n = 12) min of partial coronary artery occlusion. Simultaneous measurements of myocardial thickening fraction (TF) and microsphere-determined blood flow (BF) were taken in the subepicardial, midwall, and subendocardial thirds of the left ventricular wall. During ischemia, there was an excellent correlation between BF and TF in the subendocardium. Mean subendocardial BF was reduced to 0.45 +/- 0.3 ml.min-1.g-1, resulting in a subendocardial TF of 0.8 +/- 19%. Although subepicardial BF was relatively preserved at 1.03 +/- 0.4 ml.min-1.g-1, subepicardial TF was diminished markedly and not significantly different from subendocardial TF. Subepicardial and midwall TF were highly dependent on subendocardial flow rather than on the actual flow in these areas. Hence these studies show a marked dependence of transmural myocardial function on subendocardial blood flow. Outer wall function is more dependent on subendocardial than subepicardial blood flow.