Determination of Regional Pulmonary Blood Flow in Various Cardiopulmonary Disorders

Abstract
Regional pulmonary blood flow was determined by measuring the amount of accumulation of I131 labelled macroaggregated albumin using modified quantitative scanning method. With this method, the regional pulmonary blood flow can be measured with simple procedure, at any posture or condition of the subject. By this method, it was demonstrated that in normal subjects supine position produced almost even distribution of blood flow to the entire lung, whereas upright position increased the flow in lower portion of the lung. Marked increase of pulmonary blood flow in the upper region of both lungs was observed in patients with mitral stenosis as well as certain case of congestive heart failure.