The loss of hypoxic ventilatory responses following resuscitation after cardiac arrest in rats is associated with failure of long-term survival.

Reperfusion injury induced by cardiac arrest and resuscitation leads to secondary challenges to the brainstem. A 12-minute cardiac arrest results in about a 50% survival rate in resuscitated rats over a 4-day recovery period. We investigated hypoxic ventilatory response (HVR) to mild hypoxia by measuring the minute volume before and during a brief exposure to 10% oxygen before and following cardiac arrest and resuscitation. Our results indicate that after cardiac arrest and resuscitation the baseline spontaneous ventilation was elevated significantly in all rats due to both increased frequency and tidal volume; HVR in the non-survivor group was essentially absent while the brainstem responsiveness to hypoxia is fully maintained in the survivor group. Thus, the HVR was shown in this study to be a reliable indicator of survival vs. non-survival during early days of recovery following cardiac arrest and resuscitation.