Continuous measurement of cerebral blood flow in anesthetized cats and dogs

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Abstract
A method was developed for virtually continuous measurement of changes in cerebral blood flow (CBF) in cats and dogs. CBF was computed by multiplying cross-sectional area (CSA) and mean blood velocity in a pial artery. CSA was determined by measuring pial artery diameter with an electronic micrometer every 2-4 s through a cranial window. Velocity was measured continuously with a pulsed Doppler crystal positioned under a pial artery. CBF was determined in 12 anesthetized cats with sodium methohexital and chloralose during control, hypocapnia, hypercapnia, and hypercapnia plus hypertension. Microspheres were injected under steady-state conditions to compare the 2 methods. During control the diameter of the cerebral arteries observed was 388 .+-. 28 (SE) .mu.m and CBF measured with microspheres was 40 .+-. 4 ml.cntdot.min-1.cntdot.100 g-1. CBF decreased 18 .+-. 2% during hypocapnia and increased 152 .+-. 36% during hypercapnia. During steady-state conditions the correlation coefficient between changes in CBF (CSA .times. velocity and microspheres) was 0.94, and the slope of the regression line was 1.02. In similar studies dogs anesthetized with chloralose and urethan the correlation coefficient between CSA .times. velocity and microspheres was 0.98, and the slope of the regression line was 0.94. The product of CSA and blood velocity of a pial artery provides accurate on-line measurement of changes in CBF.

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