PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

G T Rossi

Publications and source records attributed to G T Rossi.

3 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1984

Effects of hypothermia on the cat brain-stem auditory evoked response.

Effects of systemic hypothermia on the brain-stem auditory evoked responses (BAERs) in 4 pentobarbital anesthetized adult cats placed on total cardiopulmonary bypass were investigated. Hypothermia was achieved by slowly cooling the bypass blood through a heat exchanger. Serial BAERs were recorded at 2 min intervals as brain temperature was lowered from 37 to 22 degrees C and then rewarmed over a 1-2 h period. Temperatures were recorded from the brain, esophagus and rectum. Three effects were produced by controlled systemic hypothermia. First, latencies of each component wave (I-V) of the BAER increased exponentially as brain temperature was lowered to 19 degrees C. Latencies of earlier waves (I-III) increased less than those of the later waves (IV-V). Arrhenius plots of inverse latency (rate) versus reciprocal of the absolute temperature generated a family of straight lines of similar slope for each of the 5 component waves of the BAER. The activation energy for each of the 5 BAER waves was derived from the slope of the Arrhenius plot. The mean and standard deviation of the activation energy of all 5 waves was 9.7 +/- 0.5 kcal/mole degree C. The fact that the activation energy was similar for each BAER component wave (I-V) indicated that the increase in latencies for all 5 waves was governed by the same rate-limiting, temperature-dependent process(es). Second, the rise time and duration of each of the component waves of the BAER increased with decreasing temperature. Third, wave amplitudes increased from 37 to 32 degrees C in a quasiparabolic relation and then, decreased at approximately a linear rate. The BAER wave form completely disappeared below 20.3 degrees C. Slow rewarming of the brain to its initial temperature restored the BAER component waves to their original latencies and amplitudes.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Quantitative analysis of methods for reducing physiological brain pulsations.

Normal movements of the mammalian brain, caused by the arterial and venous pressure fluctuations of each cardiac and respiratory cycle, have made obtaining stable intracellular recordings from neurons difficult. This study quantitated the movements of the cats' brainstem and examined the effects of traditional neurophysiological techniques used to reduce pulsation. Two components of brain movement were recorded: (1) an arterial component--relatively low amplitude (110-266 micrometers) and short duration (330-400 ms) excursions corresponding to the pressure wave of each cardiac systole [A-wave]; and (2) a pulmonary component--slower (10-12/min), high amplitude plateau-like displacement (300-950 micrometers) lasting for a time (2.4-5.1 s) corresponding to the inspiration of each respiratory cycle [P-wave]. Pneumothoraces and mechanical ventilation combined with elevating the animal's head reduced the pulmonary component by an average of 68% and the arterial component by 40%. Cerebrospinal fluid drainage could reduce the P-wave component of movement by as much as 50%. To reduce arterial pulsations below 100 micrometers, the mean arterial pressure (MAP) had to be lowered to less than 40 mm Hg, which was not compatible with maintaining normal brainstem auditory evoked responses. Residual movements at MAPs greater than 50 mm Hg were still sufficient to make stable intracellular penetration of small neurons difficult. The authors suggest the solution to this problem is the development of a cardiopulmonary bypass system which generates a non-pulsatile flow of oxygenated blood, described in a companion paper.

Animals↗