[The protective effect and problem of retrograde cerebral perfusion].

In order to study the protective effect and problem of retrograde perfusion (RCP), cerebral hemodynamics and cerebral metabolism were evaluated in fourteen pigs weighing 25-30 kg. Intracranial pressure, carotid arterial flow and pressure, and internal jugular venous pressure as cerebral hemodynamics; pyruvate, lactate, and oxygen consumption as cerebral metabolism; and brain temperature were measured. The animal was cooled to electrical cerebral silence on electroencephalogram under cardiopulmonary bypass. Then, animals were divided into three groups: group I (n = 4); circulatory arrest; group II (n = 3); RCP through superior vena cava (SVC); group III (n = 7); RCP through bilateral internal jugular vein (IJV). Retrograde perfusion flow was regulated to maintain the SVC pressure or IJV pressure of 30 mmHg, for 90 minutes. The variations in brain temperature were least in group III. As perfusion flow increased, intracranial pressure, and inferior vena cava (IVC) pressure increased. But, cerebral perfusion pressure, which was calculated from the difference of intracranial arteriovenous pressure, did not increase and, SVC pressure and returned blood flow through the aorta did not increase in group III. In group II, there was no significant relation between pump flow, SVC pressure, and intracranial pressure, but SVC pressure had a positive correlation with the pressure gradient of SVC-IJV. The uptake of cerebral lactate, cerebral pyruvate, and lactate-pyruvate ratio, and cerebral oxygen consumption were superior in group III than other groups. In conclusion, RCP through IJV was advantageous to maintain hypothermia and aerobic metabolism of the brain during systemic hypothermic circulatory arrest.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)