Comparison of 85krypton and 133xenon cerebral blood flow measurements before, during, and following focal, incomplete ischemia in the squirrel monkey.

A comparison of regional cerebral blood flow measurements made with beta- and gamma-emitting isotopes revealed good correspondence in areas of normal perfusion and reactive hyperemia but poor correspondence in areas of focal ischemia. After middle cerebral artery occlusion at normocapnia, there was a 65% reduction in regional cerebral blood flow from 1.40 plus or minus 0.27 ml/g min--1 to 0.49 plus or minus 0.10 ml/g min--1 in monkeys studied with 85Kr but only a 27% reduction in regional cerebral blood flow from 0.84 plus or minus 0.09 ml/g min--1 to 0.61 plus or minus 0.08 ml/g min--1 in monkeys studied with 133Xe. The lack of correlation within areas of focal, incomplete ischemia was attributed to an impairment of isotope delivery to the area of ischemia coupled with the inherent lack of spatial resolution of determinations made with 133Xe. This finding may partly explain the numerous discrepancies in experimental and clinical studies of the effects of alterations in the arterial partial pressure of CO2 on regional cerebral blood flow in areas of ischemia; it may also explain the failure of such studies to reflect the true severity of focal ischemia.