In gerbils the hemispheric blood flow was interrupted for 5 min by bilateral carotid artery occlusion to produce delayed selective destruction of the CA 1 sector of hippocampus. The influence of hemodynamic factors was studied by evaluating the microcirculation before and at two times after ischemia (3 min and 7 days), using Evans blue as an intravital vascular tracer. The density of perfused capillaries and the fractional volume of circulating blood were determined by quantitative morphometry and the values for the vulnerable CA 1 sector compared with those for the resistant CA 3 sector and cerebral cortex. In control animals the number of perfused capillaries in the CA 1 sector was about 20% lower, and the volume of circulating blood about 30% lower, than in the CA 3 sector or cerebral cortex. This difference was markedly enhanced after 5-min ischemia. During the early recirculation phase, capillary perfusion improved in the cortex, whereas in the CA 1 sector (and to a lesser degree also in the CA 3 sector) it declined. After 7 days, the density of perfused capillaries and the volume of circulating blood had returned to control levels in the cerebral cortex and CA 3 sector of hippocampus. In the CA 1 sector, in contrast, the microcirculation had further deteriorated. The density of perfused capillaries was less than 30%, and the circulating blood volume even less than 50%, of that in the cerebral cortex.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)