Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Postgraduate Medical Journal logoLink to Postgraduate Medical Journal
. 1969 Oct;45(528):648–654. doi: 10.1136/pgmj.45.528.648

Severe acute myocardial infarction treated with hyperbaric oxygen. Report on forty patients

R Ashfield, C J Gavey
PMCID: PMC2466843  PMID: 5358380

Abstract

Forty patients, aged 35-72, who had had an acute myocardial infarct in the preceding 24 hr, and who were seriously ill, were treated in a hyperbaric oxygen bed at 2 atm (atmospheres) absolute for sessions of 2 hr in and 1 hr out for an average period of 4 days.

There were thirty-seven survivors after the treatment, giving an immediate mortality of 7·5%, but three of those died later before leaving hospital, giving a total mortality of 15% in seriously ill patients.

Pain and dyspnoea were usually improved in the first hyperbaric session, relapsed in air and progressively improved in successive sessions.

Arrhythmias, including heart block, showed similar benefit. No case of cardiac arrest occurred while the patients were actually receiving hyperbaric oxygen.

There was, in the opinion of the authors, during a period of over 2 years' experience, a consistent pattern of improvement over and above that expected as spontaneous improvement.

The hyperbaric oxygen bed is a promising method of treatment for the acute phase of myocardial infarction, and it is simple to use. There will of course always be an irreducible minimum of patients who will die from obstruction of both coronary arteries or other structural lesions such as rupture or emboli.

Full text

PDF
648

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Ashfield R., Drew C. E. Clinical use of the hyperbaric oxygen bed. Postgrad Med J. 1969 Oct;45(528):643–647. doi: 10.1136/pgmj.45.528.643. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Cameron A. J., Hutton I., Kenmure A. C., Murdoch W. R. Haemodynamic and metabolic effects of hyperbaric oxygen in myocardial infarction. Lancet. 1966 Oct 15;2(7468):833–837. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(66)92258-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. HARRIS A. S. Delayed development of ventricular ectopic rhythms following experimental coronary occlusion. Circulation. 1950 Jun;1(6):1318–1328. doi: 10.1161/01.cir.1.6.1318. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. KUHN L. A., KLINE H. J., WANG M., YAMAKI T., JACOBSON J. H., 2nd HEMODYNAMIC EFFECTS OF HYPERBARIC OXYGENATION IN EXPERIMENTAL ACUTE MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION. Circ Res. 1965 Jun;16:499–509. doi: 10.1161/01.res.16.6.499. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Kirby B. J., McNicol M. W. Acid-base status in acute myocardial infarction. Lancet. 1966 Nov 12;2(7472):1054–1056. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(66)92030-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. MACKENZIE G. J., FLENLEY D. C., TAYLOR S. H., MCDONALD A. H., STAUNTON H. P., DONALD K. W. CIRCULATORY AND RESPIRATORY STUDIES IN MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION AND CARDIOGENIC SHOCK. Lancet. 1964 Oct 17;2(7364):825–832. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(64)90684-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. MOON A. J., WILLIAMS K. G., HOPKINSON W. I. A PATIENT WITH CORONARY THROMBOSIS TREATED WITH HYPERBARIC OXYGEN. Lancet. 1964 Jan 4;1(7323):18–20. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(64)92161-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. McNicol M. W., Kirby B. J., Bhoola K. D., Everest M. E., Price H. V., Freedman S. F. Pulmonary function in acute myocardial infarction. Br Med J. 1965 Nov 27;2(5473):1270–1273. doi: 10.1136/bmj.2.5473.1270. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Peter R. H., Rau R. W., Whalen R. E., Entman M. L., McIntosh H. D. Effects of hyperbaric oxygenation on coronary artery occlusion in pigs. Circ Res. 1966 Jan;18(1):89–96. doi: 10.1161/01.res.18.1.89. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. SMITH G., LAWSON D. A. Experimental coronary arterial occlusion: effects of the administration of oxygen under pressure. Scott Med J. 1958 Aug;3(8):346–350. doi: 10.1177/003693305800300803. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. THOMAS M., MALMCRONA R., SHILLINGFORD J. HAEMODYNAMIC EFFECTS OF OXYGEN IN PATIENTS WITH ACUTE MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION. Br Heart J. 1965 May;27:401–407. doi: 10.1136/hrt.27.3.401. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Valentine P. A., Fluck D. C., Mounsey J. P., Reid D., Shillingford J. P., Steiner R. E. Blood-gas changes after acute myocardial infarction. Lancet. 1966 Oct 15;2(7468):837–841. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(66)92259-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Postgraduate Medical Journal are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES