Journal of neurosurgical anesthesiology
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J Neurosurg Anesthesiol · Oct 2016
ReviewSummary of the Update Session on Clinical Neurotoxicity Studies.
During the Fifth Pediatric Anesthesia Neurodevelopmental Assessment Symposium, experts and stakeholders met to present and discuss recent advances made in the study of neurodevelopmental outcomes after exposure to anesthetic drugs in infants and children. This article summarizes the update of 5 ongoing clinical studies: General Anesthesia compared to Spinal Anesthesia, Toxicity of Remifentanil and Dexmedetomidine, Mayo Anesthesia Safety in Kids, the University of California San Francisco human cohort study, and Columbia University Medical Center Neonatal Magnetic Resonance Imaging study. The purpose of this summary is to discuss the contributions and limitations of these studies, how they fit into the published literature, and what questions remain to be answered.
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J Neurosurg Anesthesiol · Oct 2016
Biomarkers, Genetics, and Epigenetic Studies to Explore the Neurocognitive Effects of Anesthesia in Children.
Exposure to commonly used anesthetic agents causes widespread neuronal degeneration in the developing mammalian brain and has been shown to impair neurodevelopment in a variety of newborn vertebrate animal species. Although retrospective studies have suggested an association between anesthesia exposure in childhood and subsequent neurodevelopmental abnormalities, a causal relationship in humans has yet to be demonstrated. Unfortunately, translation of findings from bench to bedside is limited by several factors and histologic assessment in healthy children following exposure to anesthesia is not possible. ⋯ Here we present the summary of a focus group discussion regarding the utility of biomarkers in translational studies of anesthetic neurotoxicity as part of The 2016 Pediatric Anesthesia NeuroDevelopmental Assessment (PANDA) Symposium at Columbia University Medical Center. The experts agreed that defining intermediate phenotypes using advanced neuroimaging as a biomarker is a highly feasible and reasonable modality to provide new insights into the deleterious effects of anesthetic exposure in the developing human brain and could illuminate a viable investigative path forward. Ultimately, well-defined intermediate phenotypes may allow us to fully understand the neurodevelopmental impact of anesthesia-induced neurotoxicity and permit us to develop the safest and most effective anesthetic strategies for the infants and children we care for.
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Although animal studies have consistently demonstrated long-term neurocognitive deficits following early anesthetic exposure under certain conditions, risk in human children remains unknown. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in young patients often requires anesthesia to facilitate image acquisition. We studied MRI utilization in a pediatric population, and associated use of anesthesia for ambulatory MRI. ⋯ Significant percentages of MRI in children are associated with use of anesthesia, particularly in younger children, a population potentially more vulnerable to anesthetic neurotoxicity. Discussion of risks and benefits of anesthesia for MRI in children among physicians, patients, and families is recommended.