A Gas Chromatographic Technique for Determination of Blood Flow and Metabolism in Individual Organs (with Special Reference to the Heart)

Abstract

A method for determining blood flow, oxygen uptake and carbon dioxide release in individual organs is presented. For blood flow measurement an inert gas (N₂O) technique was used. Blood contents of O₂, CO₂ and N₂O were measured by a gas chromatographic method with use of a special vacuum chamber for extracting the gases from blood. There was a strong correlation between the contents of O₂ determined by the gas chromatographic and a spectophotometric method (correlation coefficient 0.953). Good agreement was found between CO₂ in gas samples analysed by the Scholander technique and by the gas chromatographic method. A correlation coefficient of 0.998 was obtained between the N₂O content calculated theoretically and that determined by the gas chromatographic technique. The new technique presented makes it possible to calculate blood flow in ml/100 g tissue/min, O₂ uptake and CO₂ production in an individual organ, whereby the predominant type of metabolism in the organ can be ascertained.