Blood Flow in the Rabbit Maxillary Sinus Mucosa: Measurement with a Diffusible and a Non-diffusible Tracer

Abstract

The blood flow of the sinus mucosa was studied in 11 New Zealand White rabbits. Their body weight averaged 3.5 kg. The blood flow determinations were performed during neurolept anaesthesia with continuous blood pressure recording. The blood flow in the sinus mucosa and septum, as well as in other organs, was determined both with Sn¹¹³-labelled microspheres and with Rb⁸⁶Cl. Cardiac output as determined with the microsphere method was 146 × 36 ml × min⁻¹ × 1 000 g⁻¹ body weight. There was a good correlation between the blood flow values obtained with the two methods. The blood flow in the sinus mucosa was 0.58 × 0.41 ml × min⁻¹ × g⁻¹ when measured with microspheres and 0.43 × 0.34 ml × min⁻¹ × g⁻¹ with the Rb⁸⁶Cl technique. In the septal mucosa the corresponding values were 0.42 × 0.20 ml × min⁻¹ × g⁻¹ and 0.49 × 0.43 ml × min⁻¹ × g⁻¹ respectively.

Key Words:

• Sinus mucosal blood flow
• microspheres
• Rb⁸⁶Cl