Superior vena cava to pulmonary arterial shunting operation was made between the superior vena cava and the right pulmonary artery in the fashion of end-to-end anastomosis in 20 mongrel dogs. The experimental animals were divided into three group and blood flow in the superior vena cava was occluded for 20, 30 and 60 minutes respectively, and observations were made for the changes in caval pressure and cerebrospinal fluid pressure. And pathologic examinations were also performed.
On occluding the caval blood flow, the superior vena caval pressure was sharply and immediately eleviated from 103.5±19.8mmH2O at thoracotomy to 556.4±86.1mmH2O within 2 minutes to make its plateau thereafter, and the cerebrospinal fluid presure followed closely the changes of the superior vena caval pressure in its level and pattern being elevated from 102.5±19.9mmH2O to 490.5±79.9mmH2O. The drops of both the caval and cerebrospinal fluid pressures were definite and marked on opening the shunt flow through the anastomosis, but these postoperative pressures retained still higher ones above their levels measured at thoracotomy. The pathological examinations of the brain and the spinal cord were also performed in six animals. Characteristic changes uniformly seen in all area and in all animals were the findings of capillary congestion and perivascular edema. On the other hand, ischemic nerve cell changes were rather evident, revealing their degrees and extents being related to the prolongation of the time of caval occlusion which has followed by the sustained high pressures in both the superior vena and the cerebrospinal fluid.
The experiment suggests the safety of this surgical procedure with minimal, if any, permanent damage as long as the occlusion of the caval blood flow not prolonged beyond the expected.
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