Venous plasma cyclic AMP in acute cerebrovascular disease

Antecubital venous blood was sampled from stroke patients in the presence of disodium ethylenediamine tetraacetate. Plasma was analyzed for cyclic AMP applying a competitive protein binding method without any special pretreatment. In mild hemispheric infarction as manifested by moderate hemiparesis and/or dysarthria, plasma cyclic AMP remained in the normal range (8-18 picomoles/ml). In most of the cases with moderate infarction, the cyclic AMP level was distinctly below the normal range several days after the onset of symptoms. However, cyclic AMP remained in the normal range in severe infarction with signs of brain edema, and in two cases with moderately severe symptoms. One of the two cases suffered from later development of brain edema, and the other revealed a large lesion in brain scintigrams. The sizes of the lesion revealed in brain scintigrams were smaller in the moderate cases and larger in the severe cases, except in one of the cases mentioned above. It appeared that with plasma cyclic AMP levels we could predict the extent of the lesion, and perhaps the subsequent development of impending brain edema in a few days after the onset of cerebral infarction. In moderate cases of cerebral hemorrhage, judged from the consciousness, cyclic AMP decreased to a subnormal level 2-4 days after the onset. In severe cases it remained in the normal range. Subarachnoid hemorrhage showed significantly elevated cyclic AMP levels in the early stage.