Pulmonary edema and death induced by sinoaortic denervation in fastigial nucleus-lesioned rats

When adult male rats with lesions of the cerebellar fastigial nucleus were subjected to sinoaortic denervation and instrumented for aortic pressure recording, their elevated mean arterial pressure was found to rise no higher than that of rats with sinoaortic denervation alone; however all of the doubly operated rats died or became moribund within 4 days. Pulmonary edema and gastric ulcers were frequently seen. When the order of operations was reversed, all animals survived. The possible mechanism and involvement of other brain nuclei, catecholamines and vasopressin in these pathological changes is discussed.