The Effects of Intermittent Whole-Body Hypoxic Preconditioning on Patients with Carotid Artery Stenosis.

OBJECTIVE

To study the effects of intermittent whole-body hypoxic preconditioning on patients with carotid artery stenosis.

METHODS

Fifty patients with carotid artery stenosis were selected and randomly divided into a hypoxic intervention group (HIG) and a control group (CG). Both groups were treated with a hypoxic respiration device for 7 days (HIG: 18% oxygen, CG: 21% oxygen). Venous blood samples were taken preoperatively and postoperatively. The subjects' vital signs were recorded during and after the intervention. After the completion of the trial, the concentrations of hemoglobin, hypoxia inducible factor-1α, erythropoietin, vascular endothelial growth factor, neuron-specific enolase, S100β protein, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, serum aspartate transaminase, serum alanine aminotransferase, serum creatinine, and blood urea nitrogen were measured in the previously selected blood samples.

RESULTS

During the intervention, the vital signs of the HIG were significantly different from those of the CG (P < 0.05). In the HIG, postoperative concentrations of hemoglobin, erythropoietin, hypoxia inducible factor-1α, and vascular endothelial growth factor were significantly more than the preoperative values (P < 0.05). In the CG, postoperative concentrations of neuron-specific enolase and S100β protein were more than the preoperative values (P < 0.05). The concentrations of brain-derived neurotrophic factor, serum aspartate transaminase, serum alanine aminotransferase, serum creatinine, and blood urea nitrogen showed no significant differences between their preoperative and postoperative values in either the HIG or the CG (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Intermittent hypoxic preconditioning can change the vital signs and hematologic indexes of patients with carotid artery stenosis without causing new postoperative complications or organ damage.