Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 9, 2026
A Swine Model of Neonatal Asphyxia
Published on: October 11, 2011
Retinal hemorrhages in newborn piglets following cardiopulmonary resuscitation
J C Fackler1, I D Berkowitz, W R Green
1Department 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.
