Cerebral arterial air embolism: II. Effect of pressure and time on cortical evoked potential recovery
Leitch, D.R.; Greenbaum, L.J.; Hallenbeck, J.M.
Undersea Biomedical Research 11(3): 237-248
1984
ISSN/ISBN: 0093-5387 PMID: 6506336 Document Number: 222874
In a dog model of cerebral arterial gas embolism the relative merits were studied of several different treatments: air breathing at 2.8, 6, 8, and 10 bar (60, 165, 230 and 300 ft), and O2 breathing at 2.8 bar. The study was confined to the recovery of cortical evoked potentials (CEP) while at pressure. This was a very severe model; few dogs achieved full recovery and 3 failed to show any recovery. Injecting 0.4 ml of air into the right internal carotid artery was seen to be as effective in suppressing function in the left hemisphere as in the right. The level of recovery with compression treatment as a percentage of control was directly related to the level to which CEP was suppressed. No other physiological correlates were found with either the degree of CEP suppression or the degree of recovery. Nor was any improvement observed in the rate or maximum amount of recovery at any time out to 20 min as a result of pressures > 2.8 bar. Overall, no treatment surpassed oxygen at 2.8 bar.