Transmural distribution of myocardial infarction: difference between the right and left ventricles in a canine model

The evolution of myocardial infarction 24 hours after ligating both the right coronary artery and the obtuse marginal branch of the left circumflex coronary artery was examined in 33 anesthetized dogs. Postmortem coronary angiography and a tracer microsphere technique were used to determine risk areas and their collateral blood flows, respectively. The mean weight of the risk areas was 11.3 +/- 0.5 g (mean +/- SEM) in the right ventricle and 10.5 +/- 0.9 g in the left ventricle (NS). The weight of infarcted tissue was 5.7 +/- 0.7 g in the right ventricle and 5.2 +/- 0.9 g in the left ventricle (NS). In both ventricles, infarct weight was linearly related to risk area size, and the percent of risk area necrosis was inversely correlated with the extent of collateral flow at 24 hours of coronary ligation, defined as the mean myocardial blood flow inside the central risk area. Ratios of infarct to risk area between the subendocardial and subepicardial layers were 0.76 +/- 0.06 and 0.28 +/- 0.05 in the right and left ventricles, respectively (p less than 0.01, between ventricles, n = 31), which coincided well with subendocardial-to-subepicardial-flow ratios at 24 hours, ie, 0.86 +/- 0.04 in the right ventricle and 0.32 +/- 0.06 in the left ventricle (p less than 0.01). The regional distribution of myocardial infarction correlated well with flow distribution inside the risk area; the slope of these relations was similar between the subendocardium and subepicardium in the right ventricle, whereas in the left ventricle it was larger in the subendocardium than in the subepicardium. Thus, in the dog, the inherent change in the regional distribution of coronary collateral blood flow is an important modifier in the evolution of myocardial infarction, especially in the left ventricle.