Thermography in artificially induced coronary circulatory disorders

In the open chest the heart loses more heat and its epicardiac temperature will fundamentally depend upon the temperature of the body and its environment, upon the flow in the coronaries and upon the actual state of myocardial metabolism. The experiments were carried out with the AGA Thermovision Type 750 equipment. The epicardial temperature changes induced by reactive hyperaemia due to the temporary coronary ligation in 24 dogs, and by permanent coronary ligation in 70 dogs, as well as by the gradually reduced coronary flow of another 8 dogs were recorded by means of thermography. The results indicated a relationship between the changes in epicardial flow and epicardial temperature, consequently thermography is considered a method suitable for the study of myocardial flow.