TREATMENT OF EXPERIMENTAL BRAIN EDEMA FOLLOWING SUDDEN DECOMPRESSION, SURGICAL WOUND, AND COLD LESION WITH VASO-PROTECTIVE DRUGS AND THE PROTEINASE-INHIBITOR TRASYLOL

The study was performed on 81 cats with three models of experimental brain oedema: sudden decompression, surgical wound, and cold injury. During the experiments blood pressure, central venous pressure, and intracranial pressure were recorded. The blood-brain-barrier was tested with Evans blue solution. The gray and white matter tissue was sampled at the end of the experiment, and the water content and sodium and potassium concentrations were determined. The animals with the same experimental model were divided into three groups: untreated, treated with the vasoprotective agents, and treated with the protease inhibitor Trasylol. In the sudden decompression model after balloon deflation, white matter haemorrhages and oedema development were found in gray matter and basal nuclei. In animals treated with the vasoprotective drugs, haemorrhages were not observed, and oedematous changes were less pronounced. The Trasylol effect on oedema development was not significant in this model. In the surgical wound model, oedematous changes were observed after 24 hours following the lesion. Oedema occurred in the white matter, as in the animals with cold lesions. In both models-surgical wound and cold lesion-the beneficial effect cf Trasylol was shown, while the effect of Aescorin was less evident. The results obtained seemed to testify to the usefulness of both Trasylol and vasoprotective drugs in the prevention and treatment of brain oedema in neurosurgical patients. © 1979 Springer-Verlag.