Journal of neurosurgical anesthesiology
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J Neurosurg Anesthesiol · Apr 2003
Case ReportsAcute neurogenic pulmonary edema: case reports and literature review.
Neurogenic pulmonary edema (NPE) is an underdiagnosed clinical entity. Its pathophysiology is multifactorial but largely unknown. We report two cases of NPE and review the literature on NPE cases reported since 1990. ⋯ Our two cases had clinical and laboratory features in common with most NPE cases. Physicians should remember NPE when neurologic patients suddenly become dyspneic. The mortality rate is high, but surviving patients usually recover very quickly.
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J Neurosurg Anesthesiol · Jan 2003
Evaluation of the safety of recent surgical microscopes equipped with xenon light sources.
Although recent surgical microscopes for neurosurgery are equipped with xenon light sources to obtain bright fields of vision, the safety of a xenon beam, which has strong energy intensity in a long ultraviolet light, for cortical neurons has not been evaluated. Cranial windows were made in the parietal bones of gerbils. The skull of each gerbil was covered with warmed saline (0.5 mm in depth) to maintain the brain temperature. ⋯ Because the highest energy levels of 365-nm ultraviolet rays emitted from surgical microscopes measured in the present study (0.379 mwatts/cm (2)) were much closer to the dose causing 0% damage than to the dose causing 9% damage, the risk of neuronal injury occurring during microsurgery could be negligible. However, care should be taken in patients who take medicine classified as photosensitizing agents, such as diphenylhydantoin, which are thought to concentrate ultraviolet energy. The use of saline over the cortical surface may be beneficial for reducing the detrimental effects of 365-nm ultraviolet light.
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J Neurosurg Anesthesiol · Jan 2003
Case Reports Comparative StudyPropofol increased cerebral perfusion as compared with isoflurane during a cerebral angiography in a child with moyamoya disease.
We report the case of a child with Moyamoya disease during a cerebral angiography procedure in which the effects of propofol on the cerebral perfusion were seen to be different compared with isoflurane. We suggest propofol was associated with a better preservation of cerebral circulation compared to isoflurane in this case of Moyamoya, as it maintained blood supply to the watershed areas.
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J Neurosurg Anesthesiol · Jan 2003
Clinical TrialIntraoperative monitoring of brain tissue oxygen and carbon dioxide pressures reveals low oxygenation in peritumoral brain edema.
Brain edema and swelling often complicate surgery for brain tumors. Its pathophysiology is unclear, as is the relationship with brain tissue oxygenation. Our hypothesis was that brain edema around tumor is cytotoxic type caused by impaired local tissue oxygenation due to increased local tissue pressure. ⋯ We conclude that brain tissue oxygenation is reduced in the peritumoral area and improves after local tissue pressure relief, especially in patients with brain swelling. Thus, ischemic processes may contribute to brain edema around tumors. Intraoperative p(ti)O2 monitoring may enhance the safety of neuroanesthesia, but the high incidence of failures with this type of sensor remains a matter of concern.