Hypothermia of 1.5°C in Dogs Followed by Survival

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Venous blood of heparinized dogs was shunted into a small, plastic pump-oxygenator and after oxygenation and cooling was returned under pressure into the femoral arteries. Temperature of the upper part of the body fell rapidly to 0[degree] or close to 0[degree]C, whereas the temperature of the lower part of the body hardly changed. This way a differential temperature gradient of about 20 degrees within the body was produced. Without ventricular fibrillation the heart stopped beating at about 13[degree] and was kept in arrest as long as the temperature was kept that low. Since the flow of oxygenated blood exceeded by far the minimal requirement of O2 consumption, arterio-venous differences in O2 and CO2 content were almost absent. On rewarming the blood in the extracorporeal circulation regular ventricular contractions appeared again at about 13[degree], and at 30[degree] the pump-oxygenator was stopped. All animals survived this procedure and in a consecutive series of 13 experiments, no clinically detectable damage was seen in 8 long-term survivors.