Methods for opacification of the coronary arteries in vivo have been extensively investigated in recent years, stimulated by the development of direct coronary vascular surgery. Cardioangiography or cineradiography has been used with injection of the opaque medium into the root of the aorta or into the coronary arteries themselves (Sones, 1960). Cardiac arrest with acetylcholine has also been advocated (Arnulf and Chacornac, 1958;Anlyan et al., 1959;Sloman and Jefferson, 1960), supplemented by balloon occlusion of the ascending aorta (Frische and Dotter, 1959). Davies and Michell (1960) without arresting the heart were able to obtain adequate visualization of the coronary arteries in dogs on a single film taken at the end of diastole. In the present report a technique will be described, providing a reasonably simple method for coronary arteriography in dogs; although not radically different from others, it incorporates a number of features that do not seem to have been used previously in combination. (Odman, 1956) was introduced percutaneously from the femoral artery and advanced under fluoroscopic control into the root of the aorta. The proximal end had been preshaped into a clockwise (as seen from below) semicircular loop, the plane of which formed an obtuse angle with the shaft. The end hole was restricted over a No. 160 guide, in order to encourage flow through a single side hole, which had been punched laterally, 45 degrees below the plane of the loop and at a distance of 15 mm. from the tip.
METHODThe injection of the opaque medium was performed by a Gidlund pressure injection apparatus and was initiated from the R wave of the electrocardiogram by means of an electronic device, details of which have been presented elsewhere (Hopps et al., 1961). This device also allows triggering of the X-ray exposure at any desired interval following the initiation of the injection. From a consideration of the heart rate it was thus possible to trigger the X-ray exposure at any desired point of the succeeding two or three cardiac cycles.For technical reasons 15 ml. of the opaque medium (500o hypaque) were employed irrespective of the size of the animal, amounting to 0 3 ml. per kg. for the larger dogs. The pressure of injection was 10 kg. per sq. cm. and the approximate duration of the injection for the 15 ml. was 0-8 seconds.Four to five injections, at intervals of about 15 minutes, were given in one session and in a few animals the procedure was repeated after 6 to 8 weeks.