Adipose Tissue Blood Flow Determined by the Washout of Locally Injected¹³³Xenon

The validity of the 133Xenon washout method for measurement of blood flow in adipose tissue after local injection was investigated. The washout curves from isolated, denervated fat pads in rabbits were divided into an initial fast part, ascribed to traumatic effects of the injection, and an apparently monoexponential later part. When the partition coefficient for 133Xenon was determined separately, calculation of the blood flow from the later part of the curves gave values which closely agreed with the directly measured venous outflow from the pad over a wide range of flow values, r=0.997, p < 0.001. During steady state conditions, the local 133Xenon washout method seems to give a reliable estimate of the blood flow in adipose tissue.