Anesthesiology
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Inhalational anesthetics inhibit hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction (HPV) in vivo and in vitro with a half-maximum inhibiting effect (ED50) within concentrations applied for general anesthesia. Because it is unknown whether desflurane acts likewise, we studied its effect on HPV in isolated blood-perfused rabbit lungs and compared its ED50 with that of halothane. ⋯ Assuming that 1 minimum alveolar concentration (MAC) values of desflurane and halothane for rabbits are 8.9% and 1.39%, respectively, this study yields ED50 values for the inhibition of HPV of approximately 1.6 MAC for desflurane and 1.2 MAC for halothane (P not statistically significant).