Regional cerebral blood flow and regional metabolism in cold induced oedema

24 hours following a cold induced oedema in cats rCBF was measured in the lesion area, the bluish stained cortex immediately adjacent to the lesion, a cortical area remote from the lesion, and in the contralateral uninjured hemisphere. Thereafter the brain was frozen and the respective tissue areas were removed and analyzed for water and electrolyte content as well as metabolite concentrations. It seems, that in the neighbourhood of a local lesion at least 3 different brain regions can be differentiated with regard to their characteristic pattern of data. In non-oedematous regions either hyperaemia or hypoaemia could be observed. In areas with local brain oedema rCBF was reduced inversely proportional to the tissue water content. It seems that the “luxury perfusion syndrome” represents only one of several possibilities of regional flow pattern around a local brain lesion and its occurrence is confined to non-oedematous areas.