ABSTRACT. A model of hypothermic circulatory arrest has been developed in the newborn dog. Ten puppies were anesthetized with halothane, paralyzed, and artificially ventilated with 70% nitrous oxide 30% oxygen to arterial oxygen pressure >8.0 kPa (60 mm Hg), arterial carbon dioxide pressure of 4.4-5.6 kPa (33-42 mm Hg), and arterial pH of 7. 35-7.42. Animals were surface cooled to 20°C, after which cardiac arrest was produced with i.v. KCI. Dogs remained asystolic without ventilation for 1.0 (n = 4), 1.5 (n = 3), or 2.0 (n = 3) h. Resuscitation was accomplished with closed-chest compression, mechanical ventilation, i.v. epinephrine and NaHC03, and rewarming to 37°C. Postarrest recovery was maintained for 3-4 h; thereafter, the puppies underwent perfusion-fixation of their brains for pathologic analysis. Plasma glucose (control = 8.3 mmol/L) increased slightly during hypothermic cardiac arrest (+36%) but was markedly elevated at 15 min postarrest (20 mmol/L). Blood lactate (control = 1.1 mmol/L) increased almost 200% during hypothermic circulatory arrest, with a further rise to 9.0 mmol/L at 15 min postarrest. Thereafter, lactate decreased in the 1-h arrested dogs but increased progressively in the other groups. Mean arterial blood pressure returned to baseline (73 mm Hg) by 15 min postarrest, remained stable in the 1-h dogs, but fell at 3 h to 62 and 34 mm Hg in the 1.5-and 2.0-h groups, respectively. No neuropathologic alterations were seen in puppies arrested for 1 h, whereas all puppies arrested for 1.5 or 2 h had varying degrees of cerebral cortical and hippocampal damage. Thus, newborn dogs tolerate 1 h of hypothermic circulatory arrest without brain damage, with graded neuronal injury thereafter. The experimental model has direct clinical relevance and can be used to study mechanisms of cellular injury in brain, heart, and other organs during prolonged ischemia. 3 5 in infants and children. The rationale for this surgical approach relates to the well-known observation that acute brain damage secondary to systemic hypoxia, hypotension, or cardiac arrest is prevented or at least substantially reduced by prior or concurrent hypothermia (1-5). It is the duration of cardiac arrest and its attendant total cerebral ischemia that is limiting for the prevention of brain damage. It is not known how long an infant can tolerate hypothermic circulatory arrest without sustaining ischemic brain injury, although clinical practice suggests a "safe" interval of 60-70 min (6-8). Unfortunately, infants occasionally sustain brain damage even when the duration of cardiac arrest is well within the "therapeutic window" (9, 10). It has not been established whether such brain damage arises as a silent complication of the surgical procedure itself (e.g. postoperative hypotension, air emboli, etc.) or as a result of cerebral ischemia beyond the safety margin for any specific individual infant. Given the fact that 0.5-1.0% of all infants are born with surgically correctable cardiac defects, it is surprising that little research has be...