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NEUROPATHOLOGY OF EXPERIMENTAL DECOMPRESSION SICKNESS (DYSBARISM) IN THE GOAT
Author(s) -
PALMER A. C.,
BLAKEMORE W. F.,
GREENWOOD A. G.
Publication year - 1976
Publication title -
neuropathology and applied neurobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.538
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1365-2990
pISSN - 0305-1846
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2990.1976.tb00492.x
Subject(s) - neuropathology , gliosis , spinal cord , medicine , decompression sickness , white matter , wallerian degeneration , grey matter , pathology , lumbar , decompression , infarction , anatomy , surgery , disease , radiology , psychiatry , myocardial infarction , magnetic resonance imaging
Neuropathology of experimental decompression sickness (dysbarism) in the goat Forty‐four goats were subjected to various decompression procedures and the CNS was examined at various times thereafter. Lesions were found in the spinal cord in 24 animals, but these were minimal in 6; no similar abnormalities were found in the brain. The CNS of 9 control animals was normal. In the affected animals there was focal infarction of the white matter, especially in the cervical and to a lesser degree in the thoracic and lumbar regions. The dorsal columns were particularly affected in the cervical regions. In two cases, soon after decompression, changes were also present in the grey matter of the spinal cord. In the early infarcts, oedema occurred around relevant vessels and their walls later became necrotic. The surrounding white matter showed the changes of Wallerian degeneration although some axons survived. An early macrophage reaction was followed by revascularization and gliosis of the infarcted regions. All affected animals had been treated for signs of CNS bends (Type II), except for 7 which had shown only limb bends (Type I). In view of the nature of the lesions shown here suggestions are made as to their pathogenesis and to their treatment.