Plasma catecholamine concentrations associated with cerebral vasospasm

Plasma concentrations of adrenaline and noradrenaline were measured sequentially over the immediate post-operative period following clipping of an intracranial aneurysm in 11 patients. Those patients who developed local cerebral vasospasm showed a sustained rise in plasma catecholamines, particularly noradrenaline, whilst those patients who developed generalised cerebral vasospasm showed early peaks of very high concentrations of adrenaline and noradrenaline which preceded radiological evidence of generalized vasospam.