T he relationships between contractile function, myocardial oxygen consumption, and tissue high energy phosphate and lactate content were investigated during partial coronary flow disruption. The experimental preparation was an isolated, isovolumic retrograde blood-perfused rabbit heart. Both developed pressure (r = 0.94) and dp/dt (r = 0.95) exhibited strong linear correlations with myocardial oxygen consumption that were stable for up to 45 min after blood flow reduction. In contrast, tissue high energy phosphate content exhibited nonlinear relationships with both developed pressure and oxygen consumption such that systolic mechanical function and oxidative metabolism declined to 20 and 30% of control values, respectively, before significant abnormalities in myocardial high energy phosphate stores were observed. Similarly, developed pressure and oxygen consumption decreased to 36 and 48% of control, respectively, before abnormal tissue lactate content was detected. The results of this study indicate that: (a) mechanical function is closely related to the rate of oxidative energy production during partial coronary flow disruption, and (b) despite the development of significant contractile dysfunction, tissue high energy phosphate content remains at normal levels except under the most severely flow-deprived conditions. The preservation of tissue energy stores can be explained by the apparent coupling of contractile performance to oxidative energy production, which could function to maintain myocardial energy balance during partial coronary flow restriction.