Human Cerebral Blood Flow Measured by Two Inert Gas Techniques

Abstract

Two inert gas methods for measurement of tissue blood flow were compared. The two methods are (1) Kety and Schmidt's inert gas saturation method, in which the tissue saturation is followed by detecting the concentration of the tracer in the venous blood leaving the organ and (2) the intraarterial radioactive inert gas injection method where the tissue washout is measured by detecting the residue inside the tissue by an external scintillation detector. Theoretical considerations show a close relation between the two methods when carried to the time of full saturation or desaturation of the tissue or when stopped before full saturation. Experimental studies of cerebral blood flow in nine human subjects using Kr 85 revealed a close correlation between the two methods without any systematic difference between the two sets of data. The Kety-Schmidt outflow detection method is the method of choice for studying over-all tissue perfusion and metabolism. The residue detection method is best suited for measuring flow through circumscribed regions inside an organ and for resolving the flow curve to yield estimates of flow and relative weight of various tissue components.