Nowadays, a knowledge of the microcirculation has become essential for a thorough understanding of the mechanism of organ disorders. In Osaka on 1-2 August 1987, a conference on microcirculatory disorders was held as the Satellite Symposium of the Fourth World Congress for Microcircu- lation and to mark the tenth anniversary of the National Cardiovascular Center of Japan. It was an opportune time for such a meeting, which drew the attendance of biomedical scientists and clinicians from many different parts of the world. The pathophysiological significance of the microcirculation in ischemia and disease was elucidated with lively pre- sentations dealing with both experimental and clinical aspects. The present volume summarizes the proceedings of that symposium. A review is made of recent advances in microvascular disorders, follow- ing which cerebral, myocardial, and peripheral tissue ischemia, multiple organ failure, gastroenterological disorders, and methodology are closely examined. We wish to express our thanks to our contributors, who obliged us by submitting their manuscripts within the time limit. We are grateful to Prof. Masaharu Tsuchiya, President of the Fourth World Congress for Microcirculation, who generously allowed these proceedings to be pub- lished. We would also like to thank Dr. Syoten Oka, Dr. Hiroshi Abe, Dr. Teruo Omae, Prof. Takenobu Kamada, Dr. Hiroshi Sakakibara, Dr. Tohru Sawada, and other members of the organizing committee. We are also obliged to Drs. Nobuko Tsushima, Nobuhiro Sato, Hiroaki Naritomi, and Ryu Nakayama for organizing the session symposia.