Critical care medicine
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Critical care medicine · Mar 1994
Hematocrit modifies the circulatory control of systemic and myocardial oxygen utilization in septic sheep.
To describe the relationship between hematocrit and oxygen utilization before and after the onset of a hyperdynamic septic state. ⋯ The normal circulatory compensation to anemia in hyperdynamic sepsis includes increases in cardiac index and whole-body oxygen extraction, although greater reliance is likely placed on the use of systemic flow reserve to maintain tissue oxygen uptake in septic vs. healthy study conditions. Furthermore, increased reliance on myocardial oxygen extraction in sepsis suggests that the normal flow-reserve supporting myocardial oxygen availability may be limited in this syndrome.
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Critical care medicine · Mar 1994
Nitric oxide synthase inhibition with NG-mono-methyl-L-arginine reversibly decreases cerebral blood flow in piglets.
We tested the hypothesis that, in piglets, the intravenous administration of the reversible inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase, NG-mono-methyl-L-arginine, decreases cerebral blood flow via a mechanism unrelated to cerebral oxygen consumption. ⋯ These data suggest that nitric oxide and/or a nitric oxide-containing substance is an important mediator of cerebrovascular tone in piglets, acting via a mechanism unrelated to altering cerebral oxygen consumption.