Measurement of Liver Blood Flow in the Infant Monkey

Abstract

Liver blood flow in infant monkeys (M speciosa) was measured with both the fractional clearance flow rate technique and the microsphere technique in an attempt to evaluate these methods comparatively and to quantitate liver blood flow in the newborn nonhuman primate. Cardiac output, blood volume and regional hepatic arterial, splenic, gastrointestinal, pancreatic and mesenteric blood flows were determined. With the fractional clearance technique mean liver sinusoidal blood flow was 35.2 ml/min or 1.48 ml/min/g of liver; this represents 26.3% cardiac output. With the microsphere method mean liver blood flow was 23.8 ml/min or 1.02 ml/min/g of liver; this represents 18.0% cardiac output. In these infants the mean cardiac output was 190 ml/min/kg body weight and the mean blood volume was 92.4 ml/kg.