Evidence from four decades ago in healthy volunteers showed that a sustained reduction of 20 mmHg in PaCO2 immediately achieved a 40% reduction in CBF and after 4 hours the CBF had recovered to 90% of its normal value.
Durante la hipocapnia prolongada, el efecto es limitado por la acción de tampones que permiten que el pH del LCR vuelva a valores normales, y de esta forma el FSC se normaliza.