Radiotracer measurement of ureteric blood flow

This paper describes a novel technique using the blood flow tracer C14-iodoantipyrine to measure ureteric blood flow in anesthetized Sprague-Dawley rats. The ureters were divided into five equal segments, and the blood flow was measured using a modification of the Fick principle. There was a gradient down the ureter with a significant difference between upper (159 ml./100 gm./min.) and lower (83 ml./100 gm./min.) ureteric segmental blood flows. This technique may allow the role of ureteric ischemia to be investigated in a variety of disease states.