Cerebral oxygen extraction and autoregulation during extracorporeal whole body hyperthermia in humans.

Background: The effects of hyperthermia on the human brain are incompletely understood. This study assessed the effects of whole body hyperthermia on cerebral oxygen extraction and autoregulation in humans.

Methods: Nineteen patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection, not responding to interferon treatment, were subjected to experimental therapy with extracorporeal whole body hyperthermia at 41.