Anesthesiology
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The neuroprotective properties of xenon may improve cerebral outcome after cardiac surgery using cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). However, its disposition to expand gaseous bubbles that during CPB present as cerebral air emboli (CAE) could abolish any beneficial effect or even worsen cerebral outcome. Therefore, the authors studied the impact of xenon on neurologic, cognitive, and histologic outcome after CPB combined with CAE in rats. ⋯ This is the first demonstration in which the neurologic effects of CAE have been examined in a rat model of CPB. Xenon exposure aggravated the neurologic dysfunction that is produced by CAE during CPB; potential neuroprotective effects of xenon may have been masked by the effects of xenon on CAE.
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Analyzing propofol concentration in expired alveolar gas (cPA) may be considered as a convenient, noninvasive method to follow the propofol concentration in plasma (cPPL). In the current study, the authors established procedures to measure cPA and cPPL for the assessment of their relation in two animal models during anesthesia. ⋯ Propofol can be quantified in expired alveolar gas. The results stress the role of marked species-specific variability.
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Editorial Comment
Sugammadex: a revolutionary approach to neuromuscular antagonism.