Videodensitometric estimation of the protective effect of hyperbaric oxygen in the ischemic gerbil brain.

To verify its protective effect on the ischemic mammalian brain, hyperbaric oxygen was administered to six groups of carotid-ligated gerbils. The outcome was evaluated clinically and by a colorimetric videodensitometry technique by comparing differences in the interhemispheric color density through the translucent intact cranium. It was found that there was a graded decrease in interhemispheric differences with increasing exposure to hyperbaric oxygen (the appearance of the ischemic hemisphere increasingly approached that of normal brain). This correlated with the incidence of ischemia in each group.