SYSTEMIC AND REGIONAL HAEMODYNAMICS IN EXPERIMENTAL RENAL HYPERTENSION IN CONSCIOUS RABBITS

1. The radioactive microsphere method was used to measure the distribution of cardiac output, regional flows and resistances in conscious normotensive and hypertensive rabbits implanted with an electromagnetic flow probe on the ascending aorta or pulmonary artery. Hypertension was induced by wrapping one kidney with cellophane and removing the other, and studies were performed about 5 weeks later. 2. Heart rate, stroke volume, cardiac output and total renal mass were reduced in the hypertensive animals, while the weight of, and the cardiac output distribution to left ventricle and the remaining kidney were increased. 3. In renal hypertensive rabbits, the weight normalized regional blood flow was diminished in a number of tissues, including the kidney, and, except for some organs in the splanchnic area (stomach, small intestine, mesentery and pancreas) and the fat, there was a rather uniform increase in tissue vascular resistance.