AJP - Heart and Circulatory Physiology, Vol 238, Issue 2 196-H201, Copyright © 1980 by American Physiological Society
Reduced coronary collateral resistances after chronic ventricular sympathectomy
C. E. Jones and K. W. Scheel
Previous work has suggested that chronic ventricular sympathectomy causes a
reduction in coronary collateral resistances. In the present experiments an
isolated dog heart procedure was used to directly measure directional
collateral resistances in 12 acutely denervated controls and 8 hearts that
had undergone ventricular sympathectomy 2 wk earlier. In the procedure, the
major coronary arteries were perfused separately but simultaneously during
maximum vasodilation, and collateral resistances supplying the vascular
beds of the arteries were determined by the double retrograde flow method.
In the sympathectomized hearts, all collateral resistances were 47--65%
less than in the controls (P less than 0.05). Also, in all hearts, minimum
antegrade coronary resistances were determined from pressure-flow
relationships in the major coronary arteries. Minimum coronary resistances
in the 2 groups were not significantly different (P greater than 0.05).
These results indicate that 2 wk of ventricular sympathectomy indeed causes
a reduction in coronary collateral resistances, but has no effect on
coronary resistances.
