Abstract
Recently improved microcirculatory imaging techniques, such as orthogonal polarization spectral (OPS) and its technical successor sidestream dark field (SDF) imaging, in handheld devices have allowed a direct observation of the microcirculation at the bedside. Usually a cut-off of 20 µm in diameter is used to differentiate small vessels (mainly capillaries) from large vessels (mainly venules) during this technique. We hypothesized that it was possible to measure the small vessels with a considerably smaller inner diameter. Images of the sublingual, conjunctival, jejunal, and rectal mucosa microcirculation were obtained with SDF videomicroscopy (Microscan®, Microvision Medical, Amsterdam, the Netherlands). Using the validated software, the length and diameter of microvessels were manually traced with a computer-generated line. All vessels were divided into the groups according to the inner diameter. A total of 156 SDF images of the sublingual, ocular conjunctival, jejunal, and rectal mucosa were taken in 13 pigs. The length of microscopic vessels progressively increased with a decrease in the vessel diameter less than 8 mm in all the lodges, such as sublingual (80.6% of total vessel length), ocular conjunctival (76.5% of total vessel length), jejunal (99.8% of total vessel length), and rectal (97.8% of total vessel length), due to capillary network formation. There was no significant difference in the distribution of vessels from 0 to 10 µm in diameter comparing sublingual and eye conjunctival as well as jejunal and rectal mucosa. In pigs, small-diameter microscopic vessels (<10 µm) dominated in all the studied lodges (sublingual, ocular conjunctival, jejunal, and rectal mucosa), and this is evidence to establish a new cut-off for capillaries in microcirculatory analysis of SDF imaging in experimental and clinical studies.
Highlights
The microcirculation is a vital part of blood circulation responsible for the transportation and exchange of oxygen and others substances, such as nutrients, hormones, and drugs, to tissue cells and to remove their waste products
The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the microvascular distribution according to the inner diameter using sidestream dark field (SDF) imaging in the mucosa of readily accessible organs in pigs under physiolo gical conditions
There was no significant difference in the total microscopic vessel length and density comparing the sublingual, ocular conjunctival, and jejunal lodges (Table 2)
Summary
The microcirculation is a vital part of blood circulation responsible for the transportation and exchange of oxygen and others substances, such as nutrients, hormones, and drugs, to tissue cells and to remove their waste products. The microcirculation involves the smallest vessels with a diameter of less than 100 μm, which are not visible with the eye. These microscopic vessels are arterioles, capillaries, and venules. Improved microcirculatory imaging techniques, such as orthogonal polarization spectral (OPS) [2] and its Medicina (Kaunas) 2012;48(8) Another problem arising from the fact that vessel walls are not visualized directly with these techniques is to distinguish venules from capillaries. The knowledge about the distribution of vessels according to diameter in specific organ lodges may help establish a more accurate cut-off diameter for the separation of capillaries from other vessels in an experimental setting and correctly transpose the experimental data of the microcirculation to clinical practice
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