Blood Flow in Cutaneous Tissue in Man Studied by Washout of Radioactive Xenon

Washout of 133xenon from a local depot in cutaneous tissue has been investigated in man to develop a method for blood flow measurement in that tissue. The tissue was labeled both by injecting 133xenon in saline solution intracutaneously and by a nontraumatic epicutaneous application technique. The initial selectivity of the labeling and the subsequent accumulation of 133xenon in subcutaneous tissue were examined by radioautography and by a special tissue separation technique. From the observations a two-compartment clearance model is suggested by which the cutaneous blood flow can be obtained separately from that of the subcutaneous tissue. Blood flow in the cutaneous tissue in the lateral region of the leg was 5.7 (SD 1.3) ml/100 g · min at an ambient temperature of 19° to 22°C. There were variations between different skin sites.