Intrinsic Cardiodynamic Response to Thermal Injury

Abstract

Thermal injury is one of the most devastating pathophysiologic insults to which an organism can be subjected, and over 2 million burned people per year require medical attention in North America alone (1). The most important systemic response to severe skin burns entails an early reduction in cardiac output, with the ensuing circulatory failure syndrome being the limiting factor responsible for high mortality in the early (<48 hr) postburn period. Despite extensive study of burn patients and different types of animal burn models, however, the precise cardiovascular complications of thermal trauma remain incompletely understood (1–8). This lack of definitive information no doubt reflects the profound complexity of thermal injury pathogenesis, and contributes significantly to the therapeutic difficulties and high morbidity-mortality rates associated with severe forms of burn trauma (1–3).