Objective: To determine whether conventional cardiopulmonary resuscitation causes retinal hemorrhages in piglets.
Design: Nonrandomized observations.
Setting: Animal physiology laboratory.
Participants: Six 3.5- to 4.5-kg piglets.
Interventions: Fifty minutes of conventional, closed chest cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
Measurements/main results: Intrathoracic venous pressure (right atrium) and intracranial venous pressure (sagittal sinus) were directly measured. At 5 minutes of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, the mean (+/- SEM) sagittal sinus pressure was 41 +/- 8 mm Hg and the mean right atrial pressure was 58 +/- 9 mm Hg. The pressures were sustained throughout the 50 minutes of cardiopulmonary resuscitation. At autopsy, there was no gross or microscopic evidence of retinal hemorrhages.
Conclusion: These results support the conclusion that cardiopulmonary resuscitation does not cause retinal hemorrhages.