[Gas embolism of cerebral vessels in surgery with extracorporeal circulation (clinical and pathophysiological...

Examination of 746 cardiosurgical patients revealed a statistically significant dependence between the frequency and degree of gas embolism recorded by the ultrasonic method during the operation and the probability and severity of cerebral circulatory disorders in the postoperative period. Experiments on 13 dogs showed the possibility of gas bubbles passing through the microcirculatory channel of the brain. Under satisfactory hemodynamic conditions up to 1/4 of the volume of air which has entered the cerebral arteries is "washed out" from the cerebral venous system. The revealed fact is most important in explaining the discrepancy between the frequency of gas embolism recording during the operation and the frequency of acute cerebral circulatory disorders in the postoperative period.