Journal of neurosurgical anesthesiology
-
This review provides a summary of the literature pertaining to the perioperative care of neurosurgical patients and patients with neurological diseases. General topics addressed in this review include general neurosurgical considerations, stroke, traumatic brain injury, neuromonitoring, neurotoxicity, and perioperative disorders of cognitive function.
-
J Neurosurg Anesthesiol · Apr 2019
Effects of Branched-Chain Amino Acid Supplementation on Spontaneous Seizures and Neuronal Viability in a Model of Mesial Temporal Lobe Epilepsy.
The essential branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) leucine, isoleucine, and valine have recently emerged as a potential novel treatment for medically refractory epilepsy. Blood-derived BCAAs can readily enter the brain, where they contribute to glutamate biosynthesis and may either suppress or trigger acute seizures. However, the effects of BCAAs on chronic (ie, spontaneous recurrent) seizures and epilepsy-associated neuron loss are incompletely understood. ⋯ Acute BCAA supplementation reduces seizure propagation, whereas chronic oral supplementation with BCAAs worsens seizure propagation and causes neuron loss in rodents with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy. These findings raise the question of whether such supplementation has a similar effect in humans.