International journal of microcirculation, clinical and experimental / sponsored by the European Society for Microcirculation
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Int J Microcirc Clin Exp · Nov 1995
Rhythmical fluctuations of the intracerebral microcirculation studied in pigs.
Rhythmic variations in blood flow have been observed in various vascular beds, including brain. We have characterized fluctuations of the microcirculation in different locations in the brain, and studied the response to changes in arterial carbon dioxide tension, arterial pressure, and cerebrospinal fluid pressure. Laser Doppler flowmetry was performed in 20 pentobarbital-anesthetized pigs. ⋯ High intracranial pressure tended to abolish preexisting oscillations. Hypercapnia always abolished preexisting oscillations. Oscillations were more frequent if the cerebral perfusion pressure was in the low range of cerebral autoregulation, occurred more often in the cerebral locations with relatively high local flow, were most likely to be localized, and therefore probably caused by local metabolic or myogenic variations.