[Serious pitfalls which can be encountered in a course of hypertension-hypervolemia therapy for vasospasm]

Hypertension-hypervolemia therapy (HHT) is widely employed for treatment against vasospasm after subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). A few investigations have been reported to establish the fact that HHT results in a high incidence of congestive heart failure and pulmonary edema as well as deterioration of brain edema. From the point of view that the cerebral circulation is not independent of the systemic circulation, the authors investigated the effect of HHT on the systemic circulation of patients with SAH. In 72 patients, intracranial pressure (ICP), pulmonary catheter wedge pressure (PCWP), pulmonary arterial pressure (PA), central venous pressure (CVP), arterial pressure (AP), cardiac index (CI), arterial blood gas (ABGS), electrocardiogram (ECG), serum and urine electrolytes were monitored postoperatively. Furthermore, among these patients, the flow (Flow), volume (Volume) and velocity (Velocity) of the cortical vessels were monitored by means of a Laser Doppler in 25 patients. A cisternal or spinal drain was placed in all of the patients. Elevation of PCWP and CVP and Flow were observed when 300ml of 10% glycerol was administered within a period of 30 minutes, whereas administration of the same dose of glycerol over a period of 60 or 120 minutes caused no significant changes on these parameters. Elevation of PCWP and CVP and decrease of CI and Flow, occasionally associated with premature ventricular contraction (PVC), were observed in some patients when 100ml of 25% albumin was administered. However, administration of the same dose of albumin over a period of 120 or 240 minutes did not cause deterioration of the cardiac function. These facts could be explained by Guyton's law in which massive transfusion causes cardiac dysfunction.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)