Cerebral blood flow does not change following sodium nitroprusside infusion during hypothermic cardiopulmonary bypass

Changes in cerebral blood flow (CBF) associated with decreases in mean arterial pressure (MAP) produced by sodium nitroprusside (SNP) infusion were measured by intra-aortic injection of 133Xe in 17 patients during hypothermic cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). In each patient, CBF was determined at baseline and then again following SNP-induced reduction of MAP. Two groups were studied. In Group I (n = 9), PaCO2 was maintained near 42 mm Hg uncorrected for nasopharyngeal temperature (NPT). In Group II (n = 8), PaCO2 was maintained near 60 mm Hg, uncorrected for NPT. Nasopharyngeal temperature, MAP, pump oxygenator flow, PaO2, and hematocrit were maintained within a narrow range in each patient during both studies. Since the baseline CBF determinations were conducted at the higher MAP in all subjects, we corrected post-SNP CBF data for the spontaneous decline that occurs over time during CPB. In Group I, a reduction in MAP from 76 +/- 9 mm Hg (mean +/- SD) to 50 +/- 6 mm Hg was associated with a reduction in CBF from 17 +/- 5 to 13 +/- 3 ml.100 g.min-1 (P less than 0.01), a decrease that became statistically insignificant once the time correction factor had been applied (16 +/- 4 ml.100 g-1.min-1). In Group II, MAP declined from 75 +/- 5 mm Hg to 54 +/- 5 mm Hg, and CBF declined from 25 +/- 10 to 17 +/- 7 ml.100 g.min-1 (P less than 0.01), but, again, after time correction, the CBF decline was statistically insignificant (22 +/- 8 ml.100 g-1.min-1).