Case Report: No Evidence of Intracranial Fluid Shifts in an Astronaut Following an Aborted Launch

Frontiers in Neurology

Heather R. McGregor¹  Kathleen E. Hupfeld¹  Ofer Pasternak²  Ajitkumar P. Mulavara³  T. Nick Hague⁴  Jacob J. Bloomberg⁵  Scott J. Wood⁵  Rachael D. Seidler⁶ 

[1] Department of Applied Physiology and Kinesiology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States;Department of Psychiatry and Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States;KBR, Houston, TX, United States;NASA Astronaut Corps, Houston, TX, United States;NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, United States;Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States;

关键词: spaceflight;    launch abort;    ventricular volume;    free water (FW);    microgravity;    hypergravity;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fneur.2021.774805

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Spaceflight induces lasting enlargement of the brain's ventricles as well as intracranial fluid shifts. These intracranial fluid shifts have been attributed to prolonged microgravity exposure, however, the potential effects of hypergravity exposure during launch and landing have yet to be elucidated. Here we describe a case report of a Crewmember who experienced an Aborted Launch (“CAL”). CAL's launch and landing experience was dissociated from prolonged microgravity exposure. Using MRI, we show that hypergravity exposure during the aborted launch did not induce lasting ventricular enlargement or intracranial fluid shifts resembling those previously reported with spaceflight. This case study therefore rules out hypergravity during launch and landing as a contributing factor to previously reported long-lasting intracranial fluid changes following spaceflight.

【 授权许可】

Unknown