title: The potential of venous air embolism ascending retrograde to the brain.
abstract: A bench study was performed to investigate the potential of air bubbles entering a central vein via a central venous catheter to ascend retrograde to the brain. The results support the hypothesis that air bubbles may rise retrograde against the venous blood flow, depending on bubble size, central vein diameter and cardiac output. A review of radiological findings in published case reports indicates that the occurrence of retrograde cerebral air embolism is underestimated.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Innsbruck Medical University, Austria. christoph.schlimp@uibk.ac.at
authors.forename: Christoph J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Schlimp
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Loimer
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rieger
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lederer
authors.forename: Michael B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Schmidts
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity / Q000502:physiology; D002405:Catheterization, Central Venous / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004618:Embolism, Air / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D020766:Intracranial Embolism / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012212:Rheology; D013552:Swine