M. Kleen

Noninvasive Measurement of Regional Cerebral Blood Flow by Near-Infrared Spectroscopy and Indocyanine Green

Clinicians lack a practical method for measuring CBF rapidly, repeatedly, and noninvasively at the bedside. A new noninvasive technique for estimation of cerebral hemodynamics by use of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and an intravenously infused tracer dye is proposed. Kinetics of the infrared tracer indocyanine green were monitored on the intact skull in pigs. According to an algorithm derived from fluorescein flowmetry, a relative blood flow index (BFI) was calculated. Data obtained were compared with cerebral and galeal blood flow values assessed by radioactive microspheres under baseline conditions and during hemorrhagic shock and resuscitation. Blood flow index correlated significantly (rs = 0.814, P < 0.001) with cortical blood flow but not with galeal blood flow (rs = 0.258). However, limits of agreement between BFI and CBF are rather wide (± 38.2 ± 6.4 mL 100 g−1 min−1) and require further studies. Data presented demonstrate that detection of tracer kinetics in the cerebrovasculature by NIRS may serve as valuable tool for the noninvasive estimation of regional CBF. Indocyanine green dilution curves monitored noninvasively on the intact skull by NIRS reflect dye passage through the cerebral, not extracerebral, circulation.

The Effect of Acute Normovolemic Hemodilution (ANH) on Myocardial Contractility in Anesthetized Dogs

The influence of severe acute normovolemic hemodilution (ANH) on myocardial contractility (MC) was investigated in 14 splenectomized, anesthetized dogs.MC was assessed by the maximum rate of left ventricular pressure increase (LVdp/dtmax), end-systolic elastance (Ees), and preload recruitable stroke work (PRSW) (conductance catheter, left ventricular pressure-volume relationship). Measurements of myocardial perfusion and oxygenation (radioactive microsphere technique) assured comparability of the model to previously performed studies. Global and regional myocardial blood flow increased significantly upon hemodilution with preference to midmyocardium and subendocardium. This resulted in preservation of both myocardial oxygen delivery and consumption after ANH. Myocardial oxygen extraction as well as coronary venous PO2 were unaffected by ANH, while coronary venous lactate concentration decreased, indicating that myocardial oxygen need was met. LVdp/dtmax decreased significantly after hemodilution (2278 +/- 577 vs 1884 +/- 381 mm Hg/s, P < 0.01), whereas Ees and PRSW increased significantly (1.76 +/- 0.54 vs 2.15 +/- 0.75 mm Hg/mL, P < 0.05, for Ees and 33 +/- 14 vs 45 +/- 14 mm Hg centered dot mL, P < 0.05, for PRSW). While the decrease of LVdp/dtmax most likely reflects ANH-induced changes of ventricular pre- and afterload, the increase of Ees and PRSW indicates a true increase of myocardial contractility during ANH in anesthetized dogs. (Anesth Analg 1996;83:451-8)

Diaspirin crosslinked hemoglobin enables extreme hemodilution beyond the critical hematocrit

BackgroundNormovolemic hemodilution is an effective strategy to limit perioperative homologous blood transfusions. The reduction of hematocrit related to hemodilution results in reduced arterial oxygen content, which initially is compensated for by an increase in cardiac output and oxygen extraction ratio. To increase the efficacy of hemodilution, a low hematocrit should be aimed for; however, this implies the risk of myocardial ischemia and tissue hypoxia. ObjectiveTo assess whether hemodilution can be extended to lower hematocrit values by the use of a hemoglobin-based artificial oxygen carrier solution. DesignProspective, randomized, controlled. SettingAnimal laboratory of a university hospital. SubjectsTwelve anesthetized, mechanically ventilated pigs. InterventionsIsovolemic hemodilution was performed with either 10% diaspirin crosslinked hemoglobin (DCLHb Baxter Healthcare, Boulder, CO; n = 6) or 8% human albumin solution (HSA, oncotically matched to DCLHb, Baxter Healthcare; n = 6) to a hematocrit of 15%, 8%, 4%, 2%, and 1%. Measurements and Main Results In both groups, measurements were performed at baseline at the previously mentioned preset hematocrit values and at the onset of myocardial ischemia characterized by critical hematocrit (significant ST-segment depression >0.1 mV and/or arrhythmia). To determine peripheral tissue oxygenation and myocardial perfusion and function, the following variables were evaluated: total body oxygen transport variables, tissue oxygen partial pressure (tPo2, MDO-Electrode, Eschweiler Kiel, Germany) on the surface of the skeletal muscle, coronary perfusion pressure, left ventricular (LV) end-diastolic pressure, global and regional myocardial contractility (maximal change in pressure over time, LV segmental shortening, microsonometry method), LV myocardial blood flow (fluorescent microsphere technique), LV oxygen delivery, and the ratio between LV subendocardial and subepicardial myocardial perfusion. In the HSA group, critical hematocrit was found at 6.1 (1.8)% (hemoglobin, 2 g·dL−1), whereas all DCLHb-treated animals survived hemodilution until hematocrit 1.2 (0.2)% (hemoglobin, 4.7 g·dL−1) was achieved without signs of hemodynamic instability. Although arterial oxygen content was higher in the DCLHb group at 1.2% hematocrit than in the HSA group at critical hematocrit (i.e., hematocrit, 6.1%; hemoglobin, 2 g·dL−1) neither oxygen delivery and oxygen uptake nor median tPo2 and hypoxic tPo2 values on the skeletal muscle were different between groups. In contrast, subendocardial ischemia was absent in DCLHb-diluted animals until 1.2% hematocrit was achieved. This was attributable to a higher coronary perfusion pressure (65 (22) mm Hg vs. 19 (8) mm Hg;p < .05), higher subendocardial perfusion (4.1 (2.6) mL·min−1·g−1 vs. 1.2 (0.4) mL·min−1·g−1), and subendocardial oxygen delivery (5.7 (2) mL·min−1·g−1, p < .05) in DCLHb-diluted animals, resulting in superior myocardial contractility reflected by maximal change in pressure over time (3829 (1914) vs. 1678 (730);p < .05) and higher regional myocardial contractility (11 (8)% vs. 6 (2)%;p < .05). An increased LV end-diastolic pressure reflected LV myocardial pump failure in HSA-diluted animals but was unchanged in DCLHb-diluted animals. In the DCLHb group, systemic vascular resistance index remained at baseline values throughout the protocol, whereas coronary vascular resistance decreased. In contrast, both variables decreased in HSA-diluted animals. ConclusionDCLHb as a diluent allowed for hemodilution beyond the hematocrit value, determined “critical” after hemodilution with HSA (6.1% (1.8)%). Even at 1.2% hematocrit (hemoglobin, 4.7 g·dL−1) myocardial perfusion and function were maintained, although at the expense of peripheral tissue oxygenation. This discrepancy in regional oxygenation might be caused by a redistribution of blood flow favoring the heart, which is related to a disproportionate decrease of coronary vascular resistance index during hemodilution with DCLHb.

Inhaled nitric oxide (NO) for the treatment of early allograft failure after lung transplantation

Objective: Inhalation of high concentrations of nitric oxide (NO) has been shown to improve gas exchange and to reduce pulmonary vascular resistance in individuals with ischemia-reperfusion injury following orthotopic lung transplantation. We assessed the cardiopulmonary effects of low doses of NO in early allograft dysfunction following lung transplantion. Design: Prospective clinical dose- response study. Setting: Anesthesiological intensive care unit of a university hospital. Patients and participants: 8 patients following a single or double lung transplantation who had a mean pulmonary arterial pressure (PAP) in excess of 4.7 kPa (35 mmHg) or an arterial oxygen tension/fractional inspired oxygen ratio (PaO2/FIO2) of less than 13.3 kPa (100 mmHg). Interventions: Gaseous NO was inhaled in increasing concentrations (1, 4 and 8 parts per million, each for 15 min) via a Siemens Servo 300 ventilator. Measurements and results: Cardiorespiratory parameters were assessed at baseline, after each concentration of NO, and 15 min after withdrawal of the agent [statistics: median (25th/75th percentiles: Q1/Q3), rANOVA, Dunnetts test, p < 0.05]. Inhaled NO resulted in a significant, reversible, dose-dependent, selective reduction in PAP from 5.5(5.2/6.0) kPa at control to 5.1(4.7/5.6) kPa at 1 ppm, 4.9(4.3/5.3) kPa at 4 ppm, and to 4.7(4.1/5.1) kPa at 8 ppm. PaO2 increased from 12.7(10.4/17.1) to 19.2(12.4/26.0) kPa at 1 ppm NO, to 23.9(4.67/26.7) kPa at 4 ppm NO and to 24.5(11.9/28.7) kPa at 8 ppm NO. All patients responded to NO inhalation (either with PAP or PaO2), all were subject to long-term inhalation (1–19 days). All were successfully weaned from NO and were discharged from the intensive care unit. Conclusion: The present study demonstrates that low-dose inhaled NO may be an effective drug for symptomatic treatment of hypoxemia and/or pulmonary hypertension due to allograft dysfunction subsequent to lung transplantation.

Inhalation of prostacyclin (PGI2) for 8 hours does not produce signs of acute pulmonary toxicity in healty lambs

ObjectiveTo study the potential side effects and toxicity of inhaling prostacyclin (PGI2) aerosol for 8 h.DesignIn a prospective, randomized study 14 healthy lambs received either PGI2 (n=7) or 0.9% NaCl (n=7) as an aerosol for 8 h.SettingInstitute for Surgical Research of the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich.InterventionsAll animals were studied under general anesthesia in a prone position. They were first intubated endotracheally and later tracheotomized. PGI2 solution (median dose 28 ng/kg per min) or 0.9% NaCl was administered with a jet nebulizer (delivery rate 4–10 ml/h; mass median diameter of aerosol particles 3.1 μm). Bronchoalveolar lavage was performed before and after the inhalation period to collect epithelial lining fluid of alveoli.Measurements and resultsHemodynamic and respiratory parameters, systemic resorption (plasma levels of 6-keto-prostaglandin-F1α), in vitro bleeding time, collagen-induced platelet aggregation and global biochemical and cellular composition of the epithelial lining fluid were examined in order to assess the sie effects and signs of acute pulmonary toxicity induced by inhaled PGI2. No statistically significant differences were found between the PGI2 and the control groups for any of the parameters examined.ConclusionInhalation of PGI2 (28 ng/kg per min) over a period of 8 h in healthy lambs does not produce major side effects or acute pulmonary toxicity.

Hyperoxia in Extreme Hemodilution

Intraoperative surgical blood loss is initially replaced by infusion of red cell-free, cristalloidal or colloidal solutions. When normovolemia is maintained the ensuing dilutional anemia is compensated by an increase of cardiac output and of arterial oxygen extraction. In the ideal case, a surgical blood loss can entirely be ‘bridged’ without transfusion by intraoperative normovolemic hemodilution. However major blood loss results in extreme hemodilution and the transfusion of red blood cells may finally become necessary to increase arterial oxygen content and to preserve tissue oxygenation. When transfusion has to be started before surgical control of bleeding has been achieved, parts of the red blood cells transfused will get lost, thereby increasing intraoperative transfusion needs. Beside red blood cell transfusion, arterial oxygen content can be rapidly increased by ventilating the patient with 100% oxygen (hyperoxic ventilation), thus enhancing the amount of physically dissolved oxygen in plasma (hyperoxia). In experimental and clinical studies hyperoxic ventilation has emerged as a simple, safe and effective intervention to enlarge the margin of safety for hemodynamic compensation and tissue oxygenation in hemodiluted subjects experiencing major bleeding. The hyperoxia-associated microcirculatory dysregulation and impaired tissue oxygenation known to take place in the presence of a physiologic hemoglobin concentration are not encountered in hemodiluted subjects. Hyperoxic hemodilution i.e. the combination of intraoperative extreme hemodilution and hyperoxic ventilation may therefore be considered a cost-effective, safe and efficient supplement to reduce allogeneic transfusion during surgical interventions associated with high blood losses. The vast majority of the experimental and clinical investigations this new concept is based on was initiated and performed under the guidance of Prof. Konrad Messmer.

Diaspirin-crosslinked hemoglobin reduces mortality of severe hemorrhagic shock in pigs with critical coronary stenosis

Objective To evaluate the effects of resuscitation with a 10% diaspirin-crosslinked hemoglobin (DCLHb) solution on global hemodynamic variables, systemic and myocardial oxygen transport and tissue oxygenation, and contractile function of the left ventricle in an experimental model of severe hemorrhagic shock and critical stenosis of the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD). Design Prospective, placebo-controlled, randomized study. Setting Experimental animal laboratory. Subjects A total of 20 anesthetized pigs. Interventions After implementation of a permanent critical LAD stenosis (ie, maintenance of basal blood flow but absence of reactive hyperemia after a 10-sec complete vessel occlusion), hemorrhagic shock (target mean aortic pressure, 45 mm Hg) was induced within 15 mins by programmed withdrawal of blood and maintained for 60 mins. Subsequently, the volume of plasma lost during hemorrhage was replaced by either a balanced electrolyte solution containing 10 g/dL DCLHb (DCLHb group; n = 10) or an 8 g/dL human albumin solution (HSA) oncotically matched to DCLHb (HSA group; n = 10). Data were collected immediately after the infusion of the different solutions and again after 60 mins had elapsed. Measurements and Main Results Although five of ten HSA-treated animals died of acute left ventricular failure within the first 20 mins after complete fluid resuscitation, all of the DCLHb-treated animals survived the 60-min observation period after resuscitation (p < .05). This significant difference in mortality is explained by higher coronary perfusion pressure in DCLHb-treated animals (75 ± 17 vs. 27 ± 17 torr DCLHb vs. HSA group;p < .05) and persistence of subendocardial ischemia and hypoxia (radioactive microspheres method) in HSA-treated animals on resus-citation particularly affecting the LAD-supported myocardium (subendocardial oxygen delivery: 20 ± 11 vs. 3 ± 1 mL oxygen·g−1·min−1, DCLHb vs. HSA group;p < .05). Except for enhanced myocardial contractility immediately on infusion of DCLHb (maximal left ventricular pressure increase: 2373 ± 782 vs. 1730 ± 543 torr·sec−1 DCLHb vs. HSA group;p < .05), no differences were detected between groups concerning the variables of systemic oxygen transport, tissue oxygenation, and regional contractile function of the myocardium (determined with microsonometry). Conclusions Fluid resuscitation with 10% DCLHb solution completely reverses hemorrhagic shock-induced subendocardial ischemia and hypoxia in the presence of compromised coronary circulation and thereby prevents early death after resuscitation.

Comparison of regional blood flow values measured by radioactive and fluorescent microspheres.

Fluorescent microspheres (FM) have become an attractive alternative to radioactive microspheres (RM) for the measurement of regional blood flow (RBF). The aim of the present study was to investigate the comparability of both methods by measuring RBF with FM and RM. Eight anaesthetised pigs received simultaneous, left atrial injections of FM and RM with a diameter of 15 µm at six different time points. Blood reference samples were collected from the descending aorta. RBF was determined in tissue samples of the myocardium, spleen and kidneys of all 8 animals. After radioactivity of the tissue samples was determined, the samples were processed automatically for measuring fluorescence using a recently developed filter device (SPU). RBF was calculated with both the isotope and spectrometric data of both methods for each sample resulting in a total of 10,512 blood flow values. The comparison of the RBF values yielded high linear correlation (mean r2 = 0.95 ± 0.03 to 0.97 ± 0.02) and excellent agreement (bias 5.4–6.7%, precision 9.9– 16.5%) of both methods. Our results indicate the validity of MS and of the automated tissue processing technique by means of the SPU.

Regional blood flow during hyperoxic haemodilution

Background:  Ventilation with pure oxygen (hyperoxic ventilation, HV) increases arterial oxygen content (CaO2). However HV induces arteriolar constriction and thus potentially affects O2 supply. We therefore investigated the effects of HV on regional blood flow (RBF) and O2 supply of different vital organs during moderate normovolaemic anaemia.

Efficacy of inhaled prostanoids in experimental pulmonary hypertension.

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the effects of inhaled prostacyclin (PGI2) and inhaled as well as intravenous prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) on thromboxane A2 mimetic-induced pulmonary vasoconstriction. Active pulmonary vasoconstriction was to be distinguished from passive resistance to blood flow. DESIGN Prospective, randomized, crossover study. SETTING Experimental animal laboratory. SUBJECTS Eight anesthetized and paralyzed sheep. INTERVENTIONS The stable thromboxane A2 mimetic, U46619, was infused in increasing dosage to obtain a stable pulmonary hypertension of approximately 30 mm Hg. Subsequently, PGE1 aerosol (0.6, 6, 58, 259 ng/kg/min), intravenous PGE, (0.5 microg/kg/min), or PGI2 aerosol (27 ng/kg/min) were administered in randomized order. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Active pulmonary vasoconstriction was assessed by determining the pulmonary pressure-flow relationship (PPFR). For measurement of pulmonary artery flow, an ultrasound flow probe was placed around the pulmonary artery after a sternotomy. Pulmonary arterial pressure was measured with a pulmonary artery flotation catheter. Flow was varied by partial occlusion of the inferior vena cava or incremental opening of an arterio-venous fistula between the large neck vessels. The primary end points were the slope of the resulting linear pressure-flow relationship, and pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR). Infusion of U46619 increased the slope of the PPFR (2.9+/-0.7 vs. 4.2+/-1.2 mm Hg/L/min [median+/-semi-interquartile range]; p < or = .05), and PVR (221+/-20 vs. 424+/-57 dyne x sec/cm5) (p < .05). Neither dose of PGE1 aerosol induced changes of the slope of PPFR or PVR. In contrast, intravenous administration of the same drug reduced the slope of the PPFR (4.0+/-1.0 vs. 3.1+/-0.4) (p < .05) but left PVR unchanged. Inhalation of PGI2 reduced both the slope of the PPFR, slightly but significantly, and PVR (424+/-98 vs. 323+/-26 dyne x sec/cm5) (p < .05). CONCLUSIONS This study is the first to show reduction of active pulmonary vasoconstriction by PGI2 aerosol. Neither inhalation nor intravenous administration of PGE1 reduced PVR but the latter reduced the slope of PPFR. We conclude that PGE1 has potential for pulmonary vasodilation, but that it is ineffective as an aerosol, even in high doses, in sheep. PVR may fail to reflect drug-induced pulmonary vasodilation.