Hemodynamics in awake rabbits during hyperbaric helium-oxygen exposure.

Although man is being exposed to hyperbaric environments more frequently, the effects of these environments and the inert gases used are not clearly defined. We therefore designed an experiment to examine both the effects of helium and elevated pressure on the cardiovascular system in conscious rabbits exposed to normoxic levels of a helium-oxygen (He-O2) gas mixture at 1 and 11 atmospheres absolute (ATA) for 2 h. Variables studied included heart rate, blood pressure, cardiac output, systemic vascular resistance, organ blood flow, and resistance to flow. The only change observed was a decrease in heart rate from a control of 284 +/- 7 (mean +/- SE) to 246 +/- 12 beats/min after 2 h of breathing He-O2 at 1 ATA. We therefore conclude that the cardiovascular system is not adversely affected by helium or elevated pressure as used in this experiment.