Validity of the Xenon-133-method for Measurement of Muscle Blood Flow Evaluated by Simultaneous Venous Occlusion Plethysmography: Observations in the Calf of Normal Man and in Patients with Occlusive Vascular Disease.

• Intramuscular injection of a small volume of saline containing radioactive, sodium (Na*) was used by Kety for assessing local muscle blood flow. With Xe", a radioactive isotope of the lipophilic inert gas xenon, diffusion equilibrium is better maintained than with the hydrophilic Na* ions, and Xe" clearance studies allow the estimation of local muscle blood flow per unit weight of muscle, e.g., in ml/100 g/min. In order to evaluate in more detail the validity of the Xe" clearance method it was compared to classical venous occlusion plethysmography, both methods being applied simultaneously to the calf of human subjects with and without signs of occlusive vascular disease.