Brain and lungs at risk after cervical spinal cord transection: intracranial pressure, brain water, blood-brain barrier permeability, cerebral blood flow, and extravascular lung water changes.
The early physiopathologic responses to transection of the cervical spinal cord (C-4) were studied in the experimental animal. After transection, increases were seen in the mean arterial pressure, pulmonary capillary wedge pressure, intracranial pressure, brain water, blood--brain barrier permeability, and extravascular lung water with a marked decrease occurring in cerebral blood flow. Pretreatment with an alpha-adrenergic blocker, phentolamine (Regitine Ciba-Geigy Corp.), followed by transection blocked the rise in mean arterial blood pressure and pulmonary capillary wedge pressure but did not affect the increases in intracranial pressure, brain water, blood--brain barrier permeability, and extravascular lung water and decreases in cerebral blood flow. Transection of the cervical spinal cord initiates a complex series of events involving intracranial compliance and pulmonary permeability, placing both brain and lungs at risk.
D000818:Animals; D001794:Blood Pressure; D001812:Blood-Brain Barrier; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002199:Capillary Permeability; D002302:Cardiac Output; D002496:Central Venous Pressure; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation; D004285:Dogs; D005110:Extracellular Space / Q000378:metabolism; D006339:Heart Rate; D007427:Intracranial Pressure; D008168:Lung / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009333:Neck; D011651:Pulmonary Artery; D011669:Pulmonary Wedge Pressure; D012306:Risk; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology*