[Blood gas analytical study on cerebral circulation under the influence of dihydroergotoxin (author's transl)]

The demand for sufficient blood supply and oxygenation of cerebral tissue after brain surgery or severe head injuries requires the clinical investigation of drugs which are supposed to improve cerebral blood flow and metabolism. We have therefore used the hydrogenated derivatives of the ergotoxin components of the secale alcaloids in the post-operative and posttraumatic period of neurosurgical patients, respectively, and studied their effect on cerebral metabolism by successive analysis of blood gases in the arterial and venous blood. A significant increase of cerebral venous CO2-concentration following the administration of dihydroergotoxin in these patients in all probability is attributable to an improved O2-utilisation in the cerebral tissue.