Venous response to orthostatic stress

Assessment of venous hemodynamics and volume homeostasis during pregnancy: recommendations of the International Working Group on Maternal Hemodynamics

Venous hemodynamics and volume homeostasis are important aspects of cardiovascular physiology. However, today their relevance is still very much underappreciated. Their most important role is maintenance and control of venous return and, as such, cardiac output. A high-flow/low-resistance circulation, remaining constant under physiological circumstances, is mandatory for an uncomplicated course of pregnancy. In this article, characteristics of normal and abnormal venous and volume regulating functions are discussed with respect to normal and pathologic outcomes of pregnancy, and current (non-invasive) methods to assess these functions are summarized. Copyright © 2017 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Peripheral Venous Pressure as an Indicator of Preload Responsiveness During Volume Resuscitation from Hemorrhage

BACKGROUND

Fluid resuscitation of hypovolemia presumes that peripheral venous pressure (PVP) increases more than right atrial pressure (RAP), so the net pressure gradient for venous return (PVP-RAP) rises. However, the heart and peripheral venous system function under different compliances that could affect their respective pressures during fluid infusion. In a porcine model of hemorrhage resuscitation, we examined whether RAP increases more than PVP, thereby reducing the venous return pressure gradient and blood flow.

METHODS

Anesthetized pigs (n = 8) were bled to a mean arterial blood pressure of 40 mm Hg and resuscitated with stored blood and albumin for pulmonary artery occlusion pressures (PAOPs) of 5, 10, 15, and 20 mm Hg. Venous pressures, inferior vena cava blood flow (ultrasonic flowprobe), and left ventricular diastolic compliance (Doppler echocardiography) were measured. Stroke volume variability was calculated.

RESULTS

With volume resuscitation, the slope of RAP exceeded PVP (P ≤ 0.0001) when PAOP is 10 to 20 mm Hg, causing the pressure gradient for venous return to progressively decrease. Inferior vena cava blood flow did not further increase after PAOP > 10 mm Hg. The E/e' ratio increased (P = 0.001) during resuscitation indicating reduced diastolic compliance. A significant curvilinear relationship was found between PVP and stroke volume variability (R = 0.62; P < 0.001), where fluid responders had PVP < 15 mm Hg.

CONCLUSIONS

Fluid resuscitation above a PAOP 10 mm Hg reduces myocardial compliance and reduces the venous return pressure gradient. The hemodynamic response to fluid resuscitation becomes limited by diastolic properties of the heart. PVP measurement during hemorrhage resuscitation may predict fluid responsiveness and nonresponsiveness.

Vestibulo-sympathetic responses

Evidence accumulated over 30 years, from experiments on animals and human subjects, has conclusively demonstrated that inputs from the vestibular otolith organs contribute to the control of blood pressure during movement and changes in posture. This review considers the effects of gravity on the body axis, and the consequences of postural changes on blood distribution in the body. It then separately considers findings collected in experiments on animals and human subjects demonstrating that the vestibular system regulates blood distribution in the body during movement. Vestibulosympathetic reflexes differ from responses triggered by unloading of cardiovascular receptors such as baroreceptors and cardiopulmonary receptors, as they can be elicited before a change in blood distribution occurs in the body. Dissimilarities in the expression of vestibulosympathetic reflexes in humans and animals are also described. In particular, there is evidence from experiments in animals, but not humans, that vestibulosympathetic reflexes are patterned, and differ between body regions. Results from neurophysiological and neuroanatomical studies in animals are discussed that identify the neurons that mediate vestibulosympathetic responses, which include cells in the caudal aspect of the vestibular nucleus complex, interneurons in the lateral medullary reticular formation, and bulbospinal neurons in the rostral ventrolateral medulla. Recent findings showing that cognition can modify the gain of vestibulosympathetic responses are also presented, and neural pathways that could mediate adaptive plasticity in the responses are proposed, including connections of the posterior cerebellar vermis with the vestibular nuclei and brainstem nuclei that regulate blood pressure.