Use of microscopic interferometry for measuring changes in water content of small samples of tissue

Oedema following periods of ischaemic arrest and subsequent reperfusion has been shown experimentally and clinically to affect the functional state of the heart. Tissue water content has been measured in myocardial sections by microscopic interferometry and densitometry, and the results correlated with those obtained by wet and dry weight analysis (r = 0.87; p less than 0.001). Microscopic interferometry also revealed the distribution of the water in the tissue. Experimentally induced ischaemic arrest in isolated rat hearts resulted in predominantly intra-fibrillar oedema, whilst subsequent reperfusion resulted in interfibrillar oedema. Microscopic interferometry facilitates accurate measurement of water content in tissue samples as small as 2 mg wet weight and shows (as conventional wet/dry weight analysis cannot) the distribution of the water in the tissue.