Chinese scientists have achieved a groundbreaking medical feat by successfully reviving a pig’s brain 50 minutes after death. This innovative technique could potentially transform emergency medicine and improve resuscitation success rates in cases of cardiac arrest.
Cardiac arrest often results in severe brain damage due to the lack of oxygen, which can lead to death within minutes. Traditional understanding holds that the brain can only survive without oxygen for about five to eight minutes. However, this new research challenges that notion.
A team led by Professor He Xiaoshun from the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University in Guangdong Province employed an "ex-vivo brain preservation technique" to reanimate the isolated brain of a pig that had experienced circulatory death.
After removing the pig’s brain, the researchers connected it to an external life-support system. This system included components resembling an artificial heart and lungs, as well as a living pig liver to supply fresh, oxygen-rich blood. The presence of the liver helped stabilize the blood’s metabolic state, significantly reducing brain swelling and improving the vitality of nerve cells.
Remarkably, the team observed restoration and maintenance of electrical brain activity, indicating that the brain’s functions were revived. This suggests that brain damage following cardiac arrest might be reversible, given the right conditions.
"Our findings could have profound implications for emergency medicine," said Professor He. "By understanding how to preserve and restore brain function after death, we may improve resuscitation methods and patient outcomes."
This breakthrough offers hope for enhancing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) success rates and could pave the way for new treatments for brain injuries resulting from cardiac arrest.
Reference(s):
Chinese Scientists Revive Pig Brain That Had Been Dead for 50 Minutes
cgtn.com
