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A new device was developed for rapid assessment of PO2 values in viable tissue, such as the brain, using a multiwire surface electrode. The instrument utilizes a phonograph-like construction with weightless suspension of the electrode which thus minimizes surface pressure and allows for compensation of brain movements. The new and original component of the present device is the motor-driven, servo-controlled rotation of the PO2 electrode around its vertical axis. This enables PO2 measurements from precisely defined locations. From values measured on rabbit brain surface a PO2 histogram was constructed. The mean PO2 and distribution histogram were similar to those obtained with a needle electrode. The novel device, therefore, enables accurate and fast tissue PO2 measurements with minimal risk of brain damage.

These studies were conducted to determine the effect of anesthetic drugs on tissue perfusion and O2 supply in the brain with focal cerebral edema. Using an open cranium preparation, we studied the effects of isoflurane (I; 1 minimum alveolar anesthetic concentration), of fentanyl (F; 0.5-1 microgram.kg-1 x min-1), or of thiopental (T; 32.5 mg.kg-1 x h-1) on regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) and regional brain tissue PO2 in albino rabbits (n = 6 per group) with a focal brain lesion (cold injury). The doses of anesthetics were sufficient to suppress nociception. rCBF (H2 clearance) and tissue PO2 (multiwire surface electrode) were studied adjacent to and distant from the lesion. Cerebral hyperemia developed immediately after trauma in all groups, although the flow increase did not attain statistical significance. rCBF was subsequently reduced by about 25% in the vicinity of the lesion. Distant from the trauma, a continuing hyperemia (+30%) was later observed in animals with isoflurane, whereas rCBF was decreased then by 10%-20% in animals with fentanyl, or was unchanged with thiopental. Brain tissue PO2 was increased with isoflurane in areas distant from the lesion, but decreased with fentanyl. However, with thiopental, the PO2 level had already been lowered before trauma with a subsequent tendency toward normalization. The heterogeneity of the tissue PO2 in fentanyl anesthesia, as well as the increased frequency of hypoxic PO2 values with thiopental, might have resulted from microcirculatory disturbances. Thus, although isoflurane seemed to facilitate hyperemia with an increased O2 supply to the brain, fentanyl tended to induce the opposite response. Although these properties suggest the potential to manipulate perfusion and O2 supply in cerebral ischemia or hyperemia after head injury, the effects of such measures on intracranial pressure, neurologic status, and outcome have yet to be proven.

Continuous measurements of mean arterial pressure (MAP), ICP, and jugular venous oxygen saturation (SjO2) were performed in 11 patients with severe head injury (GCS 3-7) to assess the dependence of SjO2 from the cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP), trying to establish an indirect measure of cerebrovascular autoregulation. Changes in CPP resulting from spontaneous fluctuations in MAP or ICP induced highly significant alterations in SjO2 in the range of 0.14-0.56% SjO2 mmHg-1 CPP in all patients and all periods after trauma. The analysis of the distribution of the SjO2:CPP-ratios showed the highest frequency of values in the range of 0.0-0.25% SjO2 mmHg-1 CPP in 9 of the 11 patients. Within the first 2 days after trauma, a more pronounced dependency of SjO2 from changes in CPP was found, but this was not statistically significant. No predictable relationship of the SjO2:CPP-ratio to the level of ICP could be demonstrated in the patients. Because changes in SjO2 induced by alterations in CPP were found in all patients and throughout the acute phase of severe head injury, these changes more probably reflect physiological alterations in CBF with varying perfusion pressure rather than impaired autoregulation after head trauma. Although assessment of cerebral autoregulation by estimation of the SjO2:CPP-ratio offers new possibilities for monitoring of these patients, the high frequency of erroneous readings or irregular fluctuations of the SjO2-signal from the fibreoptic catheter limits the usefulness of the SjO2-dependency from CPP for practical use in the intensive care unit.