Catecholamine response to intracranial hypertension

Pulmonary congestion, hemorrhage, and edema, produced in the experimental animal by various methods of disturbing the central nervous system, have led to the concept that such neurogenically-initiated changes are mediated through the autonomic nervous system. Blocking the sympathetic nervous mechani...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of neurosurgery Vol. 49; no. 6; p. 862
Main Authors Graf, C J, Rossi, N P
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.12.1978
Subjects
Animals
Blood Pressure
Catecholamines - blood
Dogs
Dopamine - blood
Epinephrine - blood
Heart Rate
Intracranial Pressure
Norepinephrine - blood
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Summary:Pulmonary congestion, hemorrhage, and edema, produced in the experimental animal by various methods of disturbing the central nervous system, have led to the concept that such neurogenically-initiated changes are mediated through the autonomic nervous system. Blocking the sympathetic nervous mechanisms prevents these changes. Little is found concerning the expected role of catecholamines. In this study, using a standard model of increasing intracranial pressure (ICP), intense cardiovascular changes, with blood pressure rising above 320 mm Hg and heart rate of 180 beats per minute, were noted. Within seconds, plasma catecholamine levels rose as much as 1200 times the highest normal values for epinephrine, 145 times for norepinephrine, and 35 times for dopamine. These changes occurred only when raised ICP was sustained and spatial compensation of the brain was exceeded. It is not unlikely that these events are related not only to increased ICP, but also to the effects of physical distortion of the brain stem with structural, functional, and vascular alterations within it.
ISSN:0022-3085
DOI:10.3171/jns.1978.49.6.0862