Research on the relationship between brain anoxia at different regional oxygen saturations and brain damage using near-infrared spectroscopy.

The objective of this paper is to investigate the difference in physiological parameters, EEG and morphology of brain tissues in newborn pigs with different regional oxygen saturations of brain (rSO(2)) and provide a basis for the determination of brain injury and degree of injury with the rSO(2) in clinical practice. A noninvasive near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) technique was used to monitor the rSO(2) of 27 newborn pigs. After mechanical ventilation and inhalation of 3-11% oxygen for 30 min by the newborn pigs, the pigs were grouped according to the rSO(2) in the brain caused by inhalation of different concentrations of oxygen. There were six animals each in rSO(2) < 30%, 30-35%, 35-40%, 40-50% groups and three animals in the rSO(2) > 60% group (normal control). The physiological parameters and the EEG were monitored during the experiment. The animals were sacrificed by decollation at 72 hours after brain injury, and light microscope examination and pathological analysis of the ultrastructure were conducted on the brain tissues in the CA1 zone of hippocampi. In rSO(2) > 40% groups, the mean arterial pressure (MAP) was stable and there were no significant changes in blood lactic acid, amplitudes of the EEG, light microscopic findings and ultrastructure after hypoxia. When the rSO(2) was between 30% and 40%, the MAP was stable, the level of blood lactic acid increased, metabolic acidosis occurred, there was no significant change in the amplitudes of the EEG, there were ischemic changes in brain tissues under a light microscope and there was an injury of mitochondria in the neurons in the CA1 zone of hippocampi. When the rSO(2) was less than 30%, circulatory failure occurred, the level of blood lactic acid increased, there was serious metabolic acidosis, the amplitudes of the EEG significantly decreased, there were vacuolization and broken fragments of cells under the light microscope and the mitochondria in the neurons in the CA1 zone of hippocampi were seriously injured. Under varying degrees of hypoxia, when the rSO(2) is between 30% and 40%, brain injury occurs and the functional zones of mitochondria are injured in newborn pigs. When the rSO(2) is less than 30%, the brain functions are seriously abnormal, and the serious morphological impairment in the functional zones of mitochondria is the basis for the disturbance of energy metabolism in brain neurocytes after hypoxia and the sequelae of the nervous system.