The Annals of thoracic surgery
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Prior to proximal aortic cross-clamping, baseline measurements of spinal cord blood flow and function were done. Blood flow was evaluated with radioactive microspheres and function determined by assessment of somatosensory evoked potential (SEP). Group 1 (N = 6) animals had aortic cross-clamping for 5 minutes after ischemic spinal cord dysfunction (SEP loss) was documented. ⋯ Measurements of spinal cord blood flow at the time of SEP loss revealed similar degrees of spinal cord ischemia in all groups. No significant differences were observed in the duration of aortic cross-clamping prior to SEP loss among the three groups. The data indicate that short periods of cross-clamping (5 minutes) following SEP loss are well tolerated, whereas longer periods (10 minutes) are associated with a high incidence of paraplegia.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)