Cerebral blood flow in humans following resuscitation from cardiac arrest.

Cerebral blood flow was measured by xenon-133 washout in 13 patients 6-46 hours after being resuscitated from cardiac arrest. Patients regaining consciousness had relatively normal cerebral blood flow before regaining consciousness, but all patients who died without regaining consciousness had increased cerebral blood flow that appeared within 24 hours after resuscitation (except in one patient in whom the first measurement was delayed until 28 hours after resuscitation, by which time cerebral blood flow was increased). The cause of the delayed-onset increase in cerebral blood flow is not known, but the increase may have adverse effects on brain function and may indicate the onset of irreversible brain damage.