Measurement of regional myocardial blood flow with multiple colored microspheres.

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Abstract
BACKGROUNDThe use of radioactive microspheres (RM) for the measurement of regional myocardial blood flow (RMBF) is limited and inaccessible to many investigators due to radiation safety concerns and radioactive waste disposal problems. Therefore, a new method for the measurement of RMBF using colored microspheres (CM) was developed.METHODS AND RESULTSPolystyrene spheres (diameter, 15 +/- 0.1 [SD] micron; density, 1.09 g/ml) were dyed with one of five colors. With the injection of CM into the left atrium or into a coronary perfusion line, RMBF and its distribution can be determined. CM are extracted from the myocardium and blood by digestion with potassium hydroxide and subsequent microfiltration. The dyes are then recovered from the CM within a defined volume of a solvent, and their concentrations are determined by spectrophotometry. The separation of composite absorbance spectra by spectrophotometry with the CM technique was as good as the separation of energy spectra by a gamma-counter using the RM tech...