Pathophysiologic studies of the pulmonary and coronary circulations in man

Studies of the pulmonary circulation in normal man, performed with external radiation detectors, have shown that pulmonary blood volume is about 10% of total blood volume. Pulmonary blood volume was unchanged in patients with acute or chronic left atrial hypertension and in normal persons during expansion of total blood volume in spite of marked increases in pulmonary vascular pressures. However, pulmonary blood volume was greatly increased in patients with polycythemia rubra vera and a large total blood volume and in patients with a left to right shunt but normal pulmonary intravascular pressure. Studies of regional myocardial perfusion with injection of xenon-133 solution into the left coronary artery revealed localized areas of ischemia distal to stenotic lesions even when the patient was at rest. During angina produced by pacing, more severe ischemia occurred, thus suggesting that functional factors reduce local perfusion below resting levels. In patients with "variant" angina, intravenous injection of thallium-201 chloride during spontaneous attacks has revealed large cold areas in myocardial scintigrams not present under control conditions, thus suggesting severe transmural reduction of perfusion in heart muscle corresponding to S-T segment elevation in the electrocardiogram.