3% hypertonic saline following subarachnoid hemorrhage in rats.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Hypertonic saline (HTS) has been proposed as a treatment after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) to minimize ischemic brain injury due to its osmotic and rheologic properties. Although the benefits of 7.2% HTS use in brain injury have been studied, there is a paucity of data on the use of 3%HTS. METHODS: We investigated whether 3%HTS can reduce brain water content and improve neurologic function after SAH in the rodent model compared to 0.9% saline solution (NS). Neurologic testing was conducted at 24 hours post-SAH prior to sacrificing animals for brain water content evaluation. FINDINGS: There was significant potentiation of brain water content in the right hemisphere between 3%HTS and NS groups. The modified Garcia score was not significantly different between the two groups; however, the vibrissae-stimulated forelimb placement test showed significantly lower scores in the HTS group. 3%HTS does not decrease brain edema or improve neurologic deficits as compared to NS. In fact, our study showed 3%HTS potentiated brain edema and worsened neurologic deficits in the rat SAH model. CONCLUSIONS: Given the potential adverse effects of HTS therapies, including hyperchloremic acidosis, and the lack of benefit found in our study, more investigation is required to evaluate the clinical use of 3%HTS in the setting of SAH.