PHYSIOPATHOLOGY OF NON-FREEZING COLD INJURY
Abstract
Studies on the microcirculatory changes in nonfreezing cold injury were extended to analogous types of vascular dysfunction in order to determine the possible role of local circulatory insufficiency as a common final pathway through which a variety of environmental factors may contribute to the severity of tissue damage. The technique of three-dimensional life-like visualization of the terminal vasculature by sudden in situ freezing was adapted for use on the ears of weanling rats to investigate the circulatory effects of dietary magnesium deficiency. This condition was of particular interest, since the characteristic erythema of the ears resembles that in cold injury, the need for magnesium has been found to be increased in the cold. Both conditions have been related to mast cell depletion. Observations were carried out on immersion freezing of the mouse ear to compare the resulting lesions with those of non- freezing cold injury. Exposures at -10 C. to -70 C. for 1 sec. to 2 min. were investigated. Irreversible circulatory impairment usually resulted only after more than 10 sec. at -20 C. Such lesions resembled non-freezing cold injury in being characterized by erythrostasis with some shunting through larger vessels near the margins of the frozen tissue.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 1963
- Accession Number
- AD0426326
Entities
People
- J. P. Kulka