title: Rapid ischemic preconditioning with a short reperfusion time prevents delayed paraplegia in a rabbit model.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Surgery for thoracic and thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms can be complicated by a significant incidence of neurogenic deficits due to spinal cord ischemia. In this study, we investigated whether ischemic preconditioning (IPC) improves neurologic outcome in a rabbit model.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty rabbits underwent infrarenal aortic occlusion. The IPC group (n = 20) had 10 minutes of aortic occlusion to induce spinal cord ischemia, 40 minutes of reperfusion, and 30 minutes of ischemia, whereas the control group (n = 20) had only 30 minutes of ischemia. Tarlov scoring (0, paraplegia; 4, normal) was used to evaluate neurologic functions 7 days later, and spinal cord segments (L4-L6) were stained with hematoxylin and eosin for histologic evaluation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Complete paraplegia (grade 0) occurred in 15 (75%) of the 20 control animals, whereas in the IPC group, 13 (65%) of 20 animals were completely normal (grade 4) (P < .05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  IPC is beneficial for protecting against neurologic damage after transient aortic occlusion in a rabbit model; however, the protective mechanisms are not clear.
authors: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Kartal Kosuyolu Research and Training Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors: Mehmet
authors: M
authors: Ozkokeli
authors: Mehmet Ugur
authors: MU
authors: Es
authors: Ugur
authors: U
authors: Filizcan
authors: Murat
authors: M
authors: Ugurlucan
authors: Ahmet
authors: A
authors: Sasmazel
authors: Cenk
authors: C
authors: Tataroglu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D019157:Ischemic Preconditioning, Myocardial; D008297:Male; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D010264:Paraplegia / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011817:Rabbits; D020760:Spinal Cord Ischemia / Q000150:complications*; D016896:Treatment Outcome