Thallium-201 (201Tl) uptake and redistribution kinetics were examined in an open-chest canine preparation of occlusion and reperfusion. Seven dogs (group I) underwent 3 hr of sustained occlusion and received 1.5 mCi of 201Tl after 40 min of occlusion of the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD). Group II (n = 18) underwent 60 min of LAD occlusion followed by sudden and total release of the ligature. Group IIa (n = 8) received intravenous 201Tl during occlusion of the LAD, whereas group IIb (n = 10) received intravenous 201Tl at the time of peak reflow. Group III dogs (n = 26) also underwent 60 min of LAD occlusion that was followed by gradual reflow through a residual critical stenosis. Animals in this group also received 201Tl either before (IIIa; n = 16) or after reflow was established (IIIb; n = 10). In group I, the relative 201Tl gradient (nonischemic minus ischemic activity) decreased from 88 +/- 8% (mean +/- SEM) to 59 +/- 6% during 3 hr of coronary occlusion (p = .034). After rapid and total reperfusion (group IIa), this gradient decreased from 71 +/- 6% during occlusion to 26 +/- 5% after reflow (p less than .001). After slow reperfusion through a residual stenosis (group IIIa), the gradient decreased from 81 +/- 5% to 31 +/- 5% (p less than .001) (p = .56 compared with group IIa). In rapidly reperfused dogs receiving intravenous thallium during peak reflow (IIb), initial 201Tl activity in the ischemic zone was 155 +/- 20% of initial normal activity and fell to 93 +/- 13% of normal after 2 hr of reperfusion. Similarly, in dogs reperfused slowly through a critical stenosis (IIIb), which received 201Tl during reflow, 201Tl activity soon after reflow was 94 +/- 4% of initial normal and decreased to 80 +/- 6% at 2 hr of reperfusion (p = .10). Histochemical evidence of necrosis was present in the biopsy region in 80% of the 20 dogs subjected to triphenyl tetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining. Microsphere-determined transmural blood flow was similar in all groups during LAD occlusion and final flows after 2 hr were comparable in all subgroups undergoing reflow. Ischemic zone flow (% normal) was significantly higher at the time of 201Tl administration in groups IIb (192 +/- 25%) and IIIb (110 +/- 5%), which received 201Tl during reflow, than in groups IIa (31 +/- 9%) and IIIa (22 +/- 5%), which received 201Tl during occlusion.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)