Paradoxical hypotension following increased hematocrit and blood viscosity

2005 ◽  
Vol 289 (5) ◽  
pp. H2136-H2143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Martini ◽  
Benoît Carpentier ◽  
Adolfo Chávez Negrete ◽  
John A. Frangos ◽  
Marcos Intaglietta

Hematocrit (Hct) of awake hamsters and CD-1 mice was acutely increased by isovolemic exchange transfusion of packed red blood cells (RBCs) to assess the relation between Hct and blood pressure. Increasing Hct 7–13% of baseline decreased mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) by 13 mmHg. Increasing Hct above 19% reversed this trend and caused MAP to rise above baseline. This relationship is described by a parabolic function ( R2 = 0.57 and P < 0.05). Hamsters pretreated with the nitric oxide (NO) synthase (NOS) inhibitor Nω-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester (l-NAME) and endothelial NOS-deficient mice showed no change in MAP when Hct was increased by <19%. Nitrate/nitrite plasma levels of Hct-augmented hamsters increased relative to control and l-NAME treated animals. The blood pressure effect was stable 2 h after exchange transfusion. These findings suggest that increasing Hct increases blood viscosity, shear stress, and NO production, leading to vasodilation and mild hypotension. This was corroborated by measuring A1 arteriolar diameters (55.0 ± 21.5 μm) and blood flow in the hamster window chamber preparation, which showed statistically significant increased vessel diameter (1.04 ± 0.1 relative to baseline) and microcirculatory blood flow (1.39 ± 0.68 relative to baseline) after exchange transfusion with packed RBCs. Larger increases of Hct (>19% of baseline) led blood viscosity to increase >50%, overwhelming the NO effect through a significant viscosity-dependent increase in vascular resistance, causing MAP to rise above baseline values.

1959 ◽  
Vol 197 (5) ◽  
pp. 1111-1114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew N. Levy

Temperature was diminished in a stepwise fashion in the isolated kidney of the dog perfused from a peripheral artery of the original, normothermic animal. Decreased temperature resulted in an appreciable reduction of renal blood flow at constant arterial blood pressure. Increased blood viscosity and vasoconstriction were both responsible for this reduction of flow. Hypothermia also resulted in a reduction in arteriovenous oxygen difference which was roughly proportional to the centigrade temperature. Furthermore, hypothermia exerted a marked but reversible depression of the rate of oxidative metabolism. This effect was relatively more severe than the changes for the body as a whole at equivalent temperatures reported by other investigators.


1984 ◽  
Vol 246 (2) ◽  
pp. G195-G203
Author(s):  
R. H. Gallavan ◽  
Y. Tsuchiya ◽  
E. D. Jacobson

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of nicotine on intestinal blood flow and oxygen consumption. The intravenous infusion of nicotine at doses corresponding to those experienced by smokers produced a transient increase in systemic arterial blood pressure and mesenteric blood flow. Subsequently a steady-state response developed that consisted of a reduction in mesenteric blood flow due to both a decrease in blood pressure and an increase in intestinal vascular resistance. This increase in resistance was probably due to increased levels of circulating catecholamines. The intra-arterial infusion of nicotine into the intestinal circulation at doses experienced by the average smoker had no effect on either intestinal blood flow or oxygen consumption. Similarly, under in vitro conditions nicotine had no direct effect on intestinal vascular smooth muscle tension. Thus, nicotine appears to reduce intestinal blood flow indirectly as a result of its systemic effects.


1992 ◽  
Vol 76 (3) ◽  
pp. 415-421 ◽  
Author(s):  
David W. Newell ◽  
Rune Aaslid ◽  
Renate Stooss ◽  
Hans J. Reulen

✓ Intracranial pressure (ICP) and continuous transcranial Doppler ultrasound signals were monitored in 20 head-injured patients and simultaneous synchronous fluctuations of middle cerebral artery (MCA) velocity and B waves of the ICP were observed. Continuous simultaneous monitoring of MCA velocity, ICP, arterial blood pressure, and expired CO2 revealed that both velocity waves and B waves occurred despite a constant CO2 concentration in ventilated patients and were usually not accompanied by fluctuations in the arterial blood pressure. Additional recordings from the extracranial carotid artery during the ICP B waves revealed similar synchronous fluctuations in the velocity of this artery, strongly supporting the hypothesis that blood flow fluctuations produce the velocity waves. The ratio between ICP wave amplitude and velocity wave amplitude was highly correlated to the ICP (r = 0.81, p < 0.001). Velocity waves of similar characteristics and frequency, but usually of shorter duration, were observed in seven of 10 normal subjects in whom MCA velocity was recorded for 1 hour. The findings in this report strongly suggest that B waves in the ICP are a secondary effect of vasomotor waves, producing cerebral blood flow fluctuations that become amplified in the ICP tracing, in states of reduced intracranial compliance.


2010 ◽  
Vol 299 (1) ◽  
pp. R55-R61 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. C. S. Lewis ◽  
G. Atkinson ◽  
S. J. E. Lucas ◽  
E. J. M. Grant ◽  
H. Jones ◽  
...  

Epidemiological data indicate that the risk of neurally mediated syncope is substantially higher in the morning. Syncope is precipitated by cerebral hypoperfusion, yet no chronobiological experiment has been undertaken to examine whether the major circulatory factors, which influence perfusion, show diurnal variation during a controlled orthostatic challenge. Therefore, we examined the diurnal variation in orthostatic tolerance and circulatory function measured at baseline and at presyncope. In a repeated-measures experiment, conducted at 0600 and 1600, 17 normotensive volunteers, aged 26 ± 4 yr (mean ± SD), rested supine at baseline and then underwent a 60° head-up tilt with 5-min incremental stages of lower body negative pressure until standardized symptoms of presyncope were apparent. Pretest hydration status was similar at both times of day. Continuous beat-to-beat measurements of cerebral blood flow velocity, blood pressure, heart rate, stroke volume, cardiac output, and end-tidal Pco2 were obtained. At baseline, mean cerebral blood flow velocity was 9 ± 2 cm/s (15%) lower in the morning than the afternoon ( P < 0.0001). The mean time to presyncope was shorter in the morning than in the afternoon (27.2 ± 10.5 min vs. 33.1 ± 7.9 min; 95% CI: 0.4 to 11.4 min, P = 0.01). All measurements made at presyncope did not show diurnal variation ( P > 0.05), but the changes over time (from baseline to presyncope time) in arterial blood pressure, estimated peripheral vascular resistance, and α-index baroreflex sensitivity were greater during the morning tests ( P < 0.05). These data indicate that tolerance to an incremental orthostatic challenge is markedly reduced in the morning due to diurnal variations in the time-based decline in blood pressure and the initial cerebral blood flow velocity “reserve” rather than the circulatory status at eventual presyncope. Such information may be used to help identify individuals who are particularly prone to orthostatic intolerance in the morning.


Author(s):  
Weiyu Li ◽  
Amy G. Tsai ◽  
Marcos Intaglietta ◽  
Daniel M. Tartakovsky

­­ ­Although some of the cardiovascular responses to changes in hematocrit (Hct) are not fully quantified experimentally, available information is sufficient to build a mathematical model of the consequences of treating anemia by introducing RBCs into the circulation via blood transfusion. We present such a model, which describes how the treatment of normovolemic anemia with blood transfusion impacts oxygen (O2) delivery (DO2, the product of blood O2 content and arterial blood flow) by the microcirculation. Our analysis accounts for the differential response of the endothelium to the wall shear stress (WSS) stimulus, changes in nitric oxide (NO) production due to modification of blood viscosity caused by alterations of both hematocrit (Hct) and cell free layer thickness, as well as for their combined effects on microvascular blood flow and DO2. Our model shows that transfusions of 1- and 2-unit of blood have a minimal effect on DO2 if the microcirculation is unresponsive to the WSS stimulus for NO production that causes vasodilatation increasing blood flow and DO2. Conversely, in a fully WSS responsive organism, blood transfusion significantly enhances blood flow and DO2, because increased viscosity stimulates endothelial NO production causing vasodilatation. This finding suggests that evaluation of a patients' pre-transfusion endothelial WSS responsiveness should be beneficial in determining the optimal transfusion requirements for treating anemic patients.


1979 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 288-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. A. Mengesha ◽  
G. H. Bell

Ten to fifteen healthy subjects, ages 18--30 yr, were used to assess the correlation of forearm blood flow with graded passive body tilts and vascular resistance and also to discern the relative effects of body tilts on finger blood flow. In the head-up tilts forearm blood flow and arterial blood pressure fell progressively, whereas forearm vascular resistance and pulse rate increased. In the head-down tilts the forearm blood flow and the arterial blood pressure increased, whereas the forearm vascular resistance and pulse rate decreased. These changes were found to be significantly correlated with the different tilt angles and with one another. In a preliminary study it was found that infrared heating of the carpometacarpal region produced finger vasodilatation similar to the forearm vasodilatation observed by Crockford and Hellon (6). However, unlike forearm blood flow, finger blood flow showed no appreciable response to either the head-up or head-down tilts. This indicates that the sympathetic tone and the volume of blood in the finger are not appreciably altered by this test procedure at least 1 min after the body tilt is assumed.


2002 ◽  
Vol 93 (6) ◽  
pp. 1966-1972 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria T. E. Hopman ◽  
Jan T. Groothuis ◽  
Marcel Flendrie ◽  
Karin H. L. Gerrits ◽  
Sibrand Houtman

The purpose of the present study was to determine the effect of a spinal cord injury (SCI) on resting vascular resistance in paralyzed legs in humans. To accomplish this goal, we measured blood pressure and resting flow above and below the lesion (by using venous occlusion plethysmography) in 11 patients with SCI and in 10 healthy controls (C). Relative vascular resistance was calculated as mean arterial pressure in millimeters of mercury divided by the arterial blood flow in milliliters per minute per 100 milliliters of tissue. Arterial blood flow in the sympathetically deprived and paralyzed legs of SCI was significantly lower than leg blood flow in C. Because mean arterial pressure showed no differences between both groups, leg vascular resistance in SCI was significantly higher than in C. Within the SCI group, arterial blood flow was significantly higher and vascular resistance significantly lower in the arms than in the legs. To distinguish between the effect of loss of central neural control vs. deconditioning, a group of nine SCI patients was trained for 6 wk and showed a 30% increase in leg blood flow with unchanged blood pressure levels, indicating a marked reduction in vascular resistance. In conclusion, vascular resistance is increased in the paralyzed legs of individuals with SCI and is reversible by training.


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