Cerebral venous blood gas tensions in elevated intracranial pressure.

Cerebral venous blood gas tensions were correlated with elevated intracranial pressure in spontaneously breathing dogs lightly anesthetized with nitrous oxide/halothane. Intracranial pressure was elevated by infusion of artificial cerebrospinal fluid into a lateral ventricle. Respiration and blood pressure were monitored. The results of these experiments indicate that cerebral venous carbon dioxide tension is increased in association with elevation in intracranial pressure. Moreover, it appears that cerebral venous pCO2 is effectively regulated at a mean of about 52 mm Hg over a wide range of intracranial pressure.