Aqueous oxygen : A highly O2-Supersaturated infusate for regional correction of hypoxemia and production of hyperoxemia

• Published in: Circulation (New York, N.Y.) Vol. 96; no. 12; pp. 4385 - 4391
• Main Authors: SPEARS, J. R, BING WANG, XIAOJUN WU, PRCEVSKI, P, JIANG, A. J, SPANTA, A. D, CRILLY, R. J, BRERETON, G. J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hagerstown, MD Lippincott Williams & Wilkins 16.12.1997; American Heart Association, Inc
• Subjects: Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Blood and lymphatic vessels; Cardiology. Vascular system; Coronary Circulation - physiology; Diseases of the peripheral vessels. Diseases of the vena cava. Miscellaneous; Dogs; Female; Hypoxia - drug therapy; Medical sciences; Myocardial Ischemia - drug therapy; Myocardial Ischemia - physiopathology; Oxygen - administration & dosage; Oxygen - blood; Oxygen - pharmacology; Oxygen - therapeutic use; Rabbits; Solutions; Fissipedia; Carnivora; Oxygen; Rabbit; Cardiovascular disease; Lagomorpha; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Hypoxemia; Treatment; Ischemia; Animal; Hyperoxia; Technique; Dissolved oxygen; Dog
• ISSN: 0009-7322; 1524-4539
• DOI: 10.1161/01.cir.96.12.4385

High levels of hyperoxemia may have utility in the treatment of regional tissue ischemia, but current methods for its implementation are impractical. A catheter-based method for infusion of O2, dissolved in a crystalloid solution at extremely high concentrations, ie, 1 to 3 mL O2/g (aqueous oxygen [AO]), into blood without bubble nucleation was recently developed for the potential hyperoxemic treatment of regional tissue ischemia. To test the hypotheses that hypoxemia is correctable and that hyperoxemia can be produced locally by AO infusion, normal saline equilibrated with O2 at 3 MPa (30 bar; 1 mL O2/g) was delivered into arterial blood in two different animal models. In 15 New Zealand White rabbits with systemic hypoxemia, AO was infused into the midabdominal aorta at 1 g/min. Mean distal arterial PO2 increased to 236+/-113 and 593+/-114 mm Hg on 1-hour periods of air and O2 breathing, respectively, from a baseline of 70+/-10 mm Hg (P<.01). In contrast, infusion of ordinary normal saline in a control group (n=7) had no effect on arterial PO2. No differences between groups (P>.05) in temporal changes in blood counts and chemistries were identified. In 10 dogs, low coronary blood flow in the circumflex artery was delivered with a roller pump through the central channel of an occluding balloon catheter. Hypoxemic, normoxemic, and AO-induced hyperoxemic blood perfusates (mean PO2, 52+/-4, 111+/-22, and 504+/-72 mm Hg, respectively) were infused for 3-minute periods in a randomized sequence. Short-axis two-dimensional echocardiography demonstrated a significant decrease (P<.05) in left ventricular ejection fraction compared with baseline physiological values with low-flow hypoxemic and normoxemic perfusion but not with low-flow hyperoxemic perfusion. Intra-arterial AO infusion was effective in these models for regional correction of hypoxemia and production of hyperoxemia.