Effect of intracisternal phentolamine on cerebral blood flow after subarachnoid injection of blood.

The hydrogen clearance method was used to measure total and focal cerebral blood flow (CBF) in the monkey before and for 5 hours after a simulated subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). Some monkeys also received 0.2 to 1.0 mg/kg phentolamine intracisternally 3 hours after SAH. Results show that SAH did not change cerebrovascular resistance, but as cerebral perfusion pressure decreased, CBF fell transiently. Phentolamine injected intracisternally 3 hours after SAH produced a significant fall in arterial blood pressure; cerebrovascular resistance did not change but CBF decreased significantly. These data indicate that intracisternal phentolamine cannot be considered potentially useful to treat ischemic encephalopathy after SAH.