Coronary occlusion and embolization: effect on blood flow in adjacent arteries

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Abstract
Small but consistent coronary blood flow (CBF) increases were observed in one major branch of the left coronary artery after occlusion of another major branch in both the beating and the fibrillat-ing heart. It was demonstrated that occlusion of the either branch resulted in a decrease of myocardial pressure in the area supplied by the unoccluded as well as that supplied by the occluded artery. The observed flow changes persisted after vagal section and pharmacological autonomic block. It is suggested that the change in myocardial pressure, by decreasing extravascular compression and flow resistance in minute vessels, is the main factor responsible for the increase in CBF observed during occlusion of an adjacent artery. After microsphere injection in one branch of the left coronary artery, no flow changes were found in the unoccluded branch when coronary perfusion pressure was held constant. This observation provides no evidence in support of the concept that embolization of one coronary artery produces reflex changes in resistance to flow in an adjacent nonembolized vessel.