Retinal hemorrhages in newborn piglets following cardiopulmonary resuscitation
J. C. Fackler, I. D. Berkowitz and W. R. Green
Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, Md.
OBJECTIVE--To determine whether conventional cardiopulmonary resuscitation
causes retinal hemorrhages in piglets. DESIGN--Nonrandomized observations.
SETTING--Animal physiology laboratory. PARTICIPANTS--Six 3.5- to 4.5-kg
piglets. INTERVENTIONS--Fifty minutes of conventional, closed chest
cardiopulmonary resuscitation. MEASUREMENTS/MAIN RESULTS--Intrathoracic
venous pressure (right atrium) and intracranial venous pressure (sagittal
sinus) were directly measured. At 5 minutes of cardiopulmonary
resuscitation, the mean (+/- SEM) sagittal sinus pressure was 41 +/- 8 mm
Hg and the mean right atrial pressure was 58 +/- 9 mm Hg. The pressures
were sustained throughout the 50 minutes of cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
At autopsy, there was no gross or microscopic evidence of retinal
hemorrhages. CONCLUSION--These results support the conclusion that
cardiopulmonary resuscitation does not cause retinal hemorrhages.
