Effects of serotonin inhibition in air embolism in dogs.

Serotonin can induce pulmonary hypertension, hypoxia and bronchoconstriction, and ketanserin has been shown to reverse these effects on various experimental models of acute respiratory failure. In the present study, the hemodynamic and gasometric effects of ketanserin were studied during acute respiratory failure induced by an air infusion at a rate of 10 ml/min in dogs. During a 60-min air infusion, 10 dogs received 4 mg of ketanserin i.