Production of Prolonged Arterial Hypertension in Dogs by Chronic Stimulation of the Nervous System

We were unable to produce chronic arterial hypertension in dogs by severe cerebral ischemia induced by ligation of blood supply to the brain. Combining cerebral ischemia with the mechanical effect of a wire in the floor of the fourth ventricle and the thermal stimulus of heat generated in this wire by short wave diathermy resulted in hypertension that lasted as long as 10 months. Experiments are described which indicate that the arterial hypertension which accompanies increased cerebrospinal fluid pressure is in part the result of pressure on the brain and not entirely due to cerebral anemia.