Summary
The hydraulic conductivity of s.c. and hepatocarcinoma tissue was determined by in vivo and in vitro experiments. A single parameter was developed to calculate the ratio of diffusive to convective flux of solutes in the extravascular space. Tissue glycosaminoglycan content and solute molecular weight are the two most important parameters which may determine whether the extravascular transport of solutes occurs predominantly by diffusion or by convection. The analysis has implications for transport of metabolic nutrients and wastes, drugs, hormones, plasma proteins, and viruses in the extravascular space.
Financial assistance was furnished by the University of Delaware Research Foundation and by the American Cancer Society. A preliminary report of this work has been presented at the 66th Annual Meeting of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, November 12, 1973, Philadelphia.
