title: Air embolism and the radial arterial line.
abstract: A clinical case of apparent air embolism through a radial artery line served as the impetus to conduct a study in primates to investigate the possibility of air embolism from the radial artery into the cerebral circulation. Using 133Xe cerebral scanning, we demonstrated that greater than 2 ml of air in the radial artery would result in retrograde passage of air into the vertebral system and then into the brain.
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Research Laboratory, Queen's Medical Center, Honolulu, HI 96813.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dughi
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Shitabata
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Coel
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: McNamara
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001132:Arm / Q000098:blood supply*; D001158:Arteries; D001929:Brain Edema / Q000209:etiology; D002406:Catheterization, Peripheral / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004618:Embolism, Air / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D002542:Intracranial Embolism and Thrombosis / Q000150:complications / Q000209:etiology*; D008251:Macaca; D008875:Middle Aged