PATHOGENESIS OF LESIONS IN THE NERVOUS SYSTEM IN HYPERNATREMIC STATES

Abstract

In an attempt to verify the possible causal relationship of hypernatremic dehydration and damage to the central nervous system and to study the mechanisms involved, kittens were made hypernatremic by injection with hypertonic solutions of sodium. Many of the clinical manifestations referable to the nervous system as seen in patients with hypernatremic dehydration were produced. Gross anatomic changes consisting of intracranial hemorrhages, such as are sometimes seen in patients, were also present in the animals. A study of the inorganic chemical composition of the tissues revealed a difference in the pattern of osmotic adjustment between cells of brain and of muscle. This is interpreted as a relative excess from development of idiogenic osmols within brain cells. It is suggested that this difference may in part account for the marked manifestations related to the nervous system seen in the animals and, by analogy, in patients.