Cerebral blood flow reactivity to changes in carbon dioxide calculated using end-tidal versus arterial tensions.

We retrospectively examined arerial and end-tidal estimations of CO2 tension used to calculate cerebrovascular reactivity in 68 anesthetized patients. CBF was measured using the intravenous 133Xe technique at mean +/- SD PaCO2 values of 28.2 +/- 5.2 and 38.8 +/- 4.8 mm Hg. The correlation between all PaCO2 and end-tidal PCO2 (PetCO2) values was y = 0.85x - 0.49 (r = 0.93, p = 0.0001). There was a moderate correlation between age and the difference between PaCO2 and PetCO2 (y = 0.11x + 0.79; r = 0.73, p = 0.0001). Cerebrovascular reactivity to changes in CO2 (ml 100 g-1 min-1 mm Hg-1) was similar (p = 0.358) when calculated by using either PaCO2 (1.9 +/- 0.8) or PetCO2 (1.8 +/- 0.8) and highly correlated (y = 0.86x + 0.23; r = 0.91, p = 0.0001). The CBF response to changes in CO2 tension can be reliably estimated from noninvasive measurement of PetCO2.

A theoretical model of cerebral hemodynamics: application to the study of arteriovenous malformations.

A comprehensive computer model of the cerebral circulation, based on both hydrodynamics and electrical network analysis, was used to investigate the influences of arteriovenous malformations (AVM) on regional cerebral hemodynamics. The basic model contained 114 normal compartments: 55 arteries, 37 veins, 20 microvessel groups (MVG), one compartment representing systemic and extracranial vascular resistance, and one representing the heart. Each microvessel group, which represented the arteriolar bed, consisted of 5000 microvessels. Cerebral blood flow autoregulation was simulated by a formula that determined the resistance and therefore the flow rate of the microvessel groups (arterioles) as a function of perfusion pressure. Elasticity was introduced to describe the compliance of each vessel. Flow rate was made a controlling factor for the positive regulation of the diameters of conductance vessels by calculation of shear stress on the vessel wall (vessel dilation). Models containing an AVM were constructed by adding an AVM compartment and its feeding arteries and draining veins. In addition to the basic model, AVM models were simulated with and without autoregulation and flow-induced conductance vessel dilation to evaluate the contributions of these factors on cerebral hemodynamics. Results for the model with vessel dilation were more similar to clinical observations than those without vessel dilation. Even in the presence of total vasoparalysis of the arteriolar bed equivalent, obliteration of a large (1000 mL/min) shunt flow AVM resulted in a near-field CBF increase from a baseline of 21 to a post-occlusion value of no more than 74 mL/100 g/min, casting doubt on a purely hemodynamic basis for severe hyperemia after treatment. The results of the simulations suggest that our model may be a useful tool to study hemodynamic problems of the cerebral circulation.

Rapid monitoring of intraoperative cerebral blood flow using 133Xe.

This study examined the feasibility of rapid rCBF monitoring using 133Xe as a tracer during operative procedures. We compared the initial slope index derived from two bicompartmental and one monocompartmental physiological models. The single-compartment model requires only 3 min of monitoring, whereas the bicompartmental models, thought to be more reliable, require 11 min of clearance. Data were collected from 26 patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy. Approximately 20 mCi of 133Xe in saline was injected i.v. for up to five measurements per patient, for a total of 117 measurements. The robustness of the regression for the three parameters (r = 0.781-0.99, p less than 0.0001) suggests that the three parameters are closely related. This is supported by similarity of the slopes of the regression lines (between 0.944 and 1.25) and the mean +/- SD of the three rCBF models (24.9-27.5 +/- 12.0-14.3 ml 100 g-1 min-1). Similar results were obtained for individual detectors, despite the expected higher variability. For intraoperative use in surgical procedures in which physiological conditions may change rapidly and i.v. injections of tracer must be used, a rCBF index that quickly and accurately reflects flow conditions is useful. Our data suggest that the single-compartmental Wyper index may be used to provide information about cerebral perfusion that is as accurate and robust as bicompartmental models, but requires only one-quarter of the data collection time.

Thiopental induced cerebral protection during ischemia in gerbils.

Temporary interruption or reduction of cerebral blood flow during cerebrovascular surgery may rapidly result in ischemia or cerebral infarction. Thiopental has been shown to have cerebroprotective effects. However, the cerebroprotective dose of thiopental causes burst suppression of the EEG, thus this parameter cannot be used continuously for the detection of metabolic changes in the brain during thiopental anaesthesia. This study was performed in order to examine whether the multiparametric assembly (MPA), which measures energy metabolism CBF and mitochondrial (NADH) as well as extracellular ion concentrations (K+), can shed light on the mechanism of the cerebroprotective effects of thiopental. The MPA was placed on the brain of Mongolian gerbils and burst suppression of the ECoG was induced by thiopental. Cerebral ischemia was induced by occlusion of carotid arteries after burst suppression. Burst suppression of the ECoG was accompanied by a significant decrease in cerebral blood flow. In animals that received thiopental prior to ischemia, NADH increased to a lesser degree and extracellular potassium ion concentration increased to a lesser degree than in the control animals, indicating that thiopental affords protection of the brain under ischemic conditions due to improved energy metabolism. This study also demonstrates that the MPA can monitor changes occurring in the cerebral cortex even after the ECoG can no longer be used. Those findings have a significant value in the development of a new clinical monitoring device.

133Xe blood flow monitoring during arteriovenous malformation resection: a case of intraoperative hyperperfusion with subsequent brain swelling.

Measurement of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) using the i.v. 133Xe technique was carried out during resection of a right temporooccipital arteriovenous malformation (AVM) with ipsilateral middle and posterior cerebral arterial supply. Intraoperatively, a rCBF detector was in place over the right frontotemporal area, about 5 to 6 cm from the border of the AVM. Anesthesia was 0.75% isoflurane in oxygen and nitrous oxide. After dural exposure, the rCBF was 27 ml/100 g/min at a pCO2 of 29 mm Hg and a mean arterial pressure (MAP) of 90 mm Hg. The pCO2 was then elevated to 40 mm Hg, and the rCBF was increased to 55 ml/100 g/min at a MAP of 83 mm Hg. After AVM removal, the rCBF rose to 50 ml/100 g/min at a pCO2 of 27 mm Hg and a MAP of 75 mm Hg. The pCO2 was elevated to 33 mm Hg and the rCBF increased to 86 ml/100 g/min at a MAP of 97 mm Hg. During skin closure, the rCBF was 94 ml/100 g/min at a pCO2 of 26 mm Hg and a MAP of 97 mm Hg. The patient was neurologically normal postoperatively except for a mild, new visual field defect. After 2 to 3 days, the patient gradually developed lethargy, confusion, and nausea with relatively normal blood pressure. An angiogram revealed residual enlargement of the posterior cerebral artery feeding vessel. Computed tomography showed edema extending from the area of AVM resection as far as the frontal region, producing a significant midline shift anteriorly. Intraoperative rCBF monitoring revealed significant hyperperfusion after AVM resection, which was associated with signs and symptoms of the normal perfusion pressure breakthrough syndrome.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Arteriovenous malformation draining vein physiology and determinants of transnidal pressure gradients. The Columbia University AVM Study Project.

Arteriovenous malformation (AVM) draining vein pressure (DVP) may have an influence on both the natural history of the disease and treatment outcome. The purposes of this study were to assess the relationship between DVP and other clinical and physiological variables and to characterize the transmission of arterial pressure across the AVM nidus. DVP measurements were carried out during elective AVM resection with isoflurane/nitrous oxide anesthesia with arterial carbon dioxide pressure of approximately 30 mm Hg. The gradient between the right atrium and operative measurement site was noted. Pre-excision feeding mean arterial pressure and DVP were measured with a 26-gauge needle simultaneously with systemic mean arterial pressure and central venous pressure (CVP). DVP was tested with systemic mean arterial pressure increased to approximately 20 mm Hg with phenylephrine or CVP increased with a Valsalva maneuver. Finally, preresection and postresection DVP values were compared. Relative to the site of measurement, DVP was 7 +/- 5 mm Hg at a CVP of -4 +/- 5 mm Hg (n = 45). There was no influence of presentation, presence of deep venous drainage, size, location, or prior embolization on DVP. In 19 patients, DVP decreased (8 +/- 4 to 5 +/- 3; P < 0.05) whereas CVP increased from pre- to postresection (-4 +/- 5 to -2 +/- 5; P < 0.05). For the phenylephrine challenge (n = 11), there was no difference (P = 0.84) between the delta DVP (2 +/- 1 mm Hg) and the delta CVP (2 +/- 3 mm Hg).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

The effect of arteriovenous malformation resection on cerebrovascular reactivity to carbon dioxide.

To investigate the cerebral hemodynamic changes associated with obliteration of arteriovenous malformations (AVMs), we studied 26 patients undergoing total microsurgical AVM resection during isoflurane and N2/O2 anesthesia. Detectors were placed 5 to 6 cm from the margin of the lesion and in a homologous contralateral position. Cerebral blood flow (CBF) was measured using the intravenous xenon-133 technique before and after AVM resection, during both hypocapnia and normocapnia at each stage. Intraoperative changes in CBF were related to a risk score system based on the patient's history and preoperative angiograms. Seven otherwise healthy patients undergoing spinal surgery were studied to control for anesthetic effects. Patient demographic and clinical data for the AVM group conformed to the expected strata of a large AVM population. The CBF increased after excision (22 +/- 1 ml/100 g/min before excision to 30 +/- 2 ml/100 g/min after excision; mean +/- SE, n = 25, P less than 0.002) without a hemispheric difference. CO2 reactivity increased slightly after excision (4.2 +/- 0.3% change/mm Hg before excision to 4.7 +/- 0.3% change/mm Hg after excision; n = 14, P less than 0.02). The baseline CBF and CO2 reactivity were not different from the control group. There was a weak correlation between the risk score and the percentage of change in the ipsilateral CBF, with a trend for the patients with the lowest risk to have the lowest CBF changes after resection. There was no relationship between CO2 reactivity and risk grade. None of the patients awoke from anesthesia with unexpected neurological deficits. The highest CBF increases were associated with postoperative brain swelling in one patient and fatal intracerebral hemorrhage in another. Both patients had normal CO2 reactivity before excision. One patient suffered postoperative intracerebral hemorrhage, attributable to technical problems, and had no increase in CBF. We conclude that, with an acute increase in the arteriovenous pressure gradient (and cerebral perfusion pressure) that results from shunt obliteration, there is an immediate global effect of AVM resection to increase CBF. Cerebrovascular reactivity to CO2 remains intact both before and after excision.

Cerebral hyperemia after arteriovenous malformation resection is related to "breakthrough" complications but not to feeding artery pressure. The Columbia University Arteriovenous Malformation Study Project.

To study the pathophysiology of idiopathic postoperative brain swelling or hemorrhage after arteriovenous malformation resection, termed normal perfusion pressure breakthrough (NPPB), we performed cerebral blood flow (CBF) studies during 152 operations in 143 patients, using the xenon-133 intravenous injection method. In the first part of the study, CBF was intraoperatively measured (isoflurane/N2O anesthesia) during relative hypocapnia in 95 patients before and after resection. The NPPB group had a greater increase (P < 0.0001) in mean +/- standard deviation global CBF (28 +/- 6 to 47 +/- 16 ml/100 g/min, n = 5) than did the non-NPPB group (25 +/- 7 to 29 +/- 10 ml/100 g/min, n = 90); both arteriovenous malformation groups showed greater increase (P < 0.05) than did controls undergoing craniotomy for tumor (23 +/- 6 to 23 +/- 6 ml/100 g/min, n = 22). Ipsilateral and contralateral CBF changes were similar. In a second cohort of patients with arteriovenous malformations, CBF was measured at relative normocapnia and it increased (P < 0.002) from pre- to postresection (40 +/- 13 to 49 +/- 15 ml/100 g/min, n = 57). There were no NPPB patients in this latter cohort. The feeding mean arterial pressure was measured intraoperatively before resection or at the last embolization before surgery (n = 64). The feeding mean arterial pressure (44 +/- 16 mm Hg) was 56% of the systemic arterial pressure (78 +/- 12 mm Hg, P < 0.0001) and was not related to changes in CBF from pre- to postresection. There was an association between increases in global CBF from pre- to postresection and NPPB-type complications, but there was no relationship of these CBF changes to preoperative regional arterial hypotension. These data do not support a uniquely hemodynamic mechanism that explains cerebral hyperemia as a consequence of repressurization in hypotensive vascular beds.

Pressure autoregulation is intact after arteriovenous malformation resection.

The loss of autoregulatory control of cerebral perfusion to changes in perfusion pressure in tissue remote from an arteriovenous malformation (AVM) has been proposed as the mechanism underlying "normal perfusion pressure breakthrough." This study is the first direct test of this mechanism. Studies were performed during the resection of moderate to large AVMs in 25 patients undergoing 28 procedures under isoflurane anesthesia. Cerebral blood flow (CBF) was measured (xenon-133 method) in the hemisphere adjacent to the nidus before resection after dural exposure (pre), after AVM removal before dural closure at spontaneous systemic blood pressure (post), and, finally, with the mean arterial pressure increased by 20 mm Hg, using phenylephrine (post-BP). AVM resection resulted in a significant enhancement of perfusion in the adjacent hemisphere (30 +/- 2 vs. 25 +/- 1 ml/100g/min, P < 0.01), but no further increase of CBF occurred during increased perfusion pressure (30 +/- 2 ml/100g/min). One patient suffered a postoperative hemorrhage and another developed intraoperative brain swelling during the course of the resection that necessitated staging the procedure. These two patients had the highest increases in CBF, but intact pressure autoregulation. Preserved autoregulation to increased mean arterial pressure after resection does not support a hemodynamic mechanism for the observed increase in CBF from before the resection to after the resection. Pathological events, however, do appear to be related to increases in hemispheric perfusion.

A computer simulation of the haemodynamic effects of intracranial arteriovenous malformation occlusion.

To study the effect of AVM occlusion on cerebrovascular haemodynamics, a simplified model was simulated consisting of a feeding artery supplying a capillary bed in parallel with a fistula-like malformation, both emptying into a draining vein. An electrical circuit analogue of the physiologic system was developed using lumped proximal and distal pressure dependent resistances, and capacitors representing vascular compliance. Autoregulation was introduced as a pressure varying precapillary arteriolar resistance. Equations derived from the circuit model were simulated using a graphical modeling program. The model successfully simulates phenomena angiographically observed during embolization procedures. Fistula pressure is shown to rapidly fall following proximal AVM occlusion, in contrast to a marked rise seen with distal occlusion, which is associated with biphasic flow into and out of the fistula and the arterial feeder. The model predicts an increase in capillary pressure and capillary flow which, depending on the magnitude of the flow increase and the state of autoregulation, may result either in reversal of ischaemia or hyperperfusion injury. Vascular overload is predicted in the absence of autoregulation. There is, however, little potential for vascular overload when autoregulation is intact. The model represents a first step in the mathematical characterization of the phenomenon of hyperperfusion following AVM occlusion.

Multiparametric monitoring of brain oxygen balance under experimental and clinical conditions.

In order to evaluate the relationship between brain oxygen supply and demand (O2 balance) in real time, it is necessary to use a multiparametric monitoring approach. Cerebral blood flow (CBF) is a representative parameter of O2 supply. The extracellular level of K+ is a reliable indicator of O2 demand since more than 60% of the energy consumed by the brain is utilized by active transport processes. Mitochondrial NADH redox state can represent the balance between O2 supply and demand. In order to monitor the brain of experimental animals or patients, we constructed the multiparametric assembly (MPA) and the following parameters were monitored simultaneously and in real time: CBF, CBV, NADH redox state, extracellular K+, DC potential, EEG, tissue temperature and ICP. Animals were exposed to hypoxia, ischemia, hypercapnia, hyperoxia and spreading depression (SD) and the relative changes in CBF and NADH were calculated and found to be significant indicators of brain energy state. Monitoring these two parameters increases the possibility of differentiating between various pathophysiological states. Each added parameter increases the power of diagnosis and determination of the functional state of the brain. Preliminary results obtained in patients monitored in the ICU or in the OR show that the responses to hypercapnia, spreading depression or ischemia are similar to those measured in experimental animals.

Thiopental effect on cerebral blood flow during carotid endarterectomy.

To investigate the effect of thiopental on cerebral blood flow (CBF) during carotid endarterectomy, five patients receiving isoflurane-N2O anesthesia were studied. During the period of temporary bypass shunting, a baseline CBF was measured using i.v. Xe washout, and global CBF was calculated from the mean of 10 detectors. Thiopental was given in a dose sufficient (mean 4.5, range 2.6-5.8 mg/kg) to result in burst-suppression on the electroencephalogram (EEG) of approximately 1:1 duration and CBF was measured again. Data were compared using repeated measures analysis of variance. Thiopental significantly reduced mean (+/-SE) CBF (ml/100 g/min) from 37 +/- 6 to 18 +/- 2 (p <0.02). Corresponding PaCO2 (mm Hg) values were 42.8 +/- 1.2 and 41.2 +/- 1.6 and mean systemic blood pressure (mm Hg) was 101 +/- 3 and 100 +/- 6, respectively (NS). Mean % change in CBF was 48 +/- 5 (range 32-62%). There was no relationship between the dose administered and the change in CBF. During steady-state anesthesia, a small dose of thiopental capable of suppressing EEG resulted in a profound reduction in CBF.

The equivalence of anesthetic regimens with respect to plasma glucose elevation during cerebrovascular surgery.

Hyperglycemia, even if mild, is known to aggravate neuronal damage from cerebral ischemia. In order better to define the influence of currently used anesthetic techniques on plasma glucose levels during cerebrovascular surgery, we examined serial plasma glucose values during 43 carotid endarterectomies (CEA) and 19 intracranial arteriovenous malformation (AVM) resections. CEA patients (aged 67.6 +/- 1.4 years and weighing 76.4 +/- 2.3 kg, mean +/- SEM) received N2O in O2 and either isoflurane (ISO) (n = 14), halothane (n = 8), fentanyl (n = 10), or sufentanil (n = 11). Plasma glucose was compared at 1.12 +/- 0.05 h (stage 1), 2.08 +/- 0.07 h (stage 2), and 3.12 +/- 0.1 h (stage 3) after induction of anesthesia. AVM patients received ISO and N2O in O2. Plasma glucose was compared 2.32 +/- 0.14 h (stage 1) and 6.25 +/- 0.34 h (stage 2) after induction of anesthesia (surgical stage). Glucose was determined by the hexokinase method. In the CEA cases, progressively elevated plasma glucose levels were associated with successive surgical stage (114 +/- 6, 122 +/- 6, and 138 +/- 6 mg/dl). The seven CEA patients that carried the diagnosis of diabetes mellitus tended to have higher glucose levels but they did not differ significantly from nondiabetic patients. The AVM patients (aged 35.7 +/- 2.3 years and weighing 71.1 +/- 2.9 kg) were all nondiabetic. They were significantly younger than the CEA patients and each received dexamethasone intraoperatively. In these patients, there was a significant effect (p <0.04) of surgical stage to increase plasma glucose (115 +/- 10 vs. 126 +/- 10 mg/dl). For CEA, the anesthetic techniques examined do not differ significantly in their influence on plasma glucose levels, but all techniques were associated with a gradual increase in plasma glucose levels intraoperatively, even in nondiabetic patients. Compared to the group of younger AVM patients, glucose elevation was more pronounced in the elderly CEA patients. We conclude that intraoperative monitoring of plasma glucose may be useful in elderly patients during prolonged neurovascular procedures.

Evaluation of accuracy and precision of bone markers for the measurement of migration of hip prostheses. A comparison of conventional measurements.

Our aim was to determine whether tantalum m arkers improved the accuracy and/or precision of methods for the measurement of migration in total hip replacement based on conventional measurements without mathematical correction of the data, and with Ein Bild Roentgen Analyse - Femoral Component Analysis (EBRA-FCA) which allows a computerised correction. Three observers independently analysed 13 series of roentgen-stereophotogrammetric-analysis (RSA)-compatible radiographs (88). Data were obtained from conventional measurements, EBRA-FCA and the RSA method and all the results were compared with the RSA data. Radiological evaluation was also used to quantify in how many radiographs the intraosseous position of the bone markers had been simulated. The results showed that tantalum markers improve reliability whereas they do not affect accuracy for conventional measurements and for EBRA-FCA. Because of the danger of third-body wear their implantation should be avoided unless they are an integral part of the method.

Accuracy of EBRA-FCA in the measurement of migration of femoral components of total hip replacement. Einzel-Bild-Röntgen-Analyse-femoral component analysis.

Several methods of measuring the migration of the femoral component after total hip replacement have been described, but they use different reference lines, and have differing accuracies, some unproven. Statistical comparison of different studies is rarely possible. We report a study of the EBRA-FCA method (femoral component analysis using Einzel-Bild-Röntgen-Analyse) to determine its accuracy using three independent assessments, including a direct comparison with the results of roentgen stereophotogrammetric analysis (RSA). The accuracy of EBRA-FCA was better than +/- 1.5 mm (95% percentile) with a Cronbach's coefficient alpha for interobserver reliability of 0.84; a very good result. The method had a specificity of 100% and a sensitivity of 78% compared with RSA for the detection of migration of over 1 mm. This is accurate enough to assess the stability of a prosthesis within a relatively limited period. The best reference line for downward migration is between the greater trochanter and the shoulder of the stem, as confirmed by two experimental analyses and a computer-assisted design.

The evaluation of brain CBF and mitochondrial function by a fiber optic tissue spectroscope in neurosurgical patients.

The brain of neurosurgical patients are exposed to various manipulations in the ICU or during surgery. Under such conditions brain O2 balance may become negative and as a result brain vitality and function will deteriorate. In order to evaluate brain vitality in real time it is important to measure more than one parameter. The multiparametric monitoring system used in our previous study to monitor comatose patients (Mayevsky et al., Brain Res. 740: 268-274, 1996) was changed into a "simplified" tissue spectroscope for real time monitoring of brain O2 balance. Mitochondrial function was evaluated by monitoring the NADH redox state by surface fluorometry. Microcirculatory blood flow was assessed by laser Doppler flowmetry. The combined optical probe was located on the surface of the brain during various neurosurgical procedures and the responses were recorded and presented in real time to the surgeon. A total of 32 patients were monitored during various procedures. The results could be summarized as follows: 1. Hypercapnia led to 3 different types of responses. In two patients the 'stealing' like event was recorded. In the other 7 patients the responses to high CO2 was not detectable. In the last group of 6 patients a clear CBF elevation was recorded with variable response of mitochondrial NADH. 2. Our monitoring device was able to evaluate the efficacy of the STA-MCA anastomosis during aneurysm surgery. 3. A significant correlation was recorded between CBF and NADH redox state during changes in blood pressure, papaverine injection, spontaneous drop in blood supply to the brain or during releasing of high ICP levels. We conclude that in order to evaluate the metabolic state of the brain during neurosurgical procedures it is necessary to monitor both CBF and mitochondrial NADH by using the tissue spectroscope.

Brain viability and function analyzer: multiparametric real-time monitoring in neurosurgical patients.

We have developed the Brain Viability (BVA) and Brain Function (BFA) Analyzers for monitoring the following parameters from the human cerebral cortex cerebral blood flow: (CBF), NADH redox state, Electro corticography (ECoG), brain temperature, extracellular K+, DC potential and intracranial pressure (ICP). The BVA monitors the first 4 parameters only. The Brain viability probe (BVP) and Brain function multiprobe (BFM) were used during 11 operations and in 18 ICU patients, respectively. Preliminary results from the OR showed that 5 patients exhibited a typical increase in CBF in response to changes in end-tidal CO2 without a significant change in the NADH redox state. In 4 other patients no changes in CBF and NADH were observed. Two patients exhibited a "steeling response", i.e., a decrease in CBF and an increase in NADH. In 18 comatose patients monitored in the ICU, the ICP, CBF and ECoG were measured correctly in most patients, whereas NADH and K+ were more problematic. One patient exhibited a typical response, may be due to repeated cortical spreading depression cycles and an ischemic depolarization event. Continuous realtime multiparametric monitoring in neurosurgical patients is feasible and practical in the OR and the ICU. The information provided could be used as a diagnostic tool to guide the procedures or treatment given to the patients.

Deliberate systemic hypotension to facilitate endovascular therapy of cerebral arteriovenous malformations: a computer modeling study.

With the aid of a computer model, this investigation describes the relationship between mean arterial pressure (MAP) reduction and its effect on total arteriovenous malformation (AVM) shunt flow, feeding artery velocities, and cerebral blood flow in hypotensive, structurally normal vascular beds adjacent to the AVM nidus. Simulations were performed for two feeding artery sizes (2 and 4 mm in diameter) and two AVM shunt flows (500 and 1000 ml/minute) with and without the presence of autoregulation in normal brain. Systemic arterial hypotension was simulated in a stepwise fashion by reducing aortic pressure from 100 to 10 mm Hg in 10-mm Hg steps. The percentage of MAP that resulted in a 50% reduction of shunt flow was calculated (%MAP reduction at half-maximal shunt flow). As the MAP decreased, the shunt flow decreased in a nearly linear fashion; the cerebral blood flow remained constant in neighboring brain until the MAP dropped below 60 and 80 mm Hg for the medium and large AVMs, respectively. The %MAP reductions at half-maximal shunt flow for the medium and large AVMs were not significantly different from 50%: 44% and 47%, respectively. Results for 2 and 4 mm AVM feeding artery sizes were similar. The decrease in both total shunt flow and flow velocity in feeding artery pedicles, potentially embolized by glue injection, were nearly linear with the institution of systemic hypotension. The presence or absence of autoregulation in normal brain, or different variations in the simulated angioarchitecture of the AVMs, did not affect this relationship in the model.

Endoscopic carpal tunnel release: prospective assessment of 255 consecutive cases.

A prospective study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of two-portal endoscopic carpal tunnel release. Two hundred and fifty-five consecutive hands (204 patients) were operated on by one surgeon using general or regional anaesthesia in the first 48 hands and local anaesthesia in the following 207 hands. The patients were evaluated preoperatively and 3 and 6 months postoperatively by an independent examiner. At the 6-month follow-up, 83% reported complete relief of symptoms and 89% were satisfied with the results of surgery. The median time until return to work was 17 days. Complications included five postoperative digital neurapraxias, all occurring under general or regional anaesthesia, and four open reoperations due to persistent symptoms. Two-portal endoscopic carpal tunnel release can be effective and safe and appears to shorten the time until return to work. The use of local anaesthesia might be important in avoiding neurological complications.

Median nerve latency measurement agreement between portable and conventional methods.

A portable nerve conduction testing device was compared with a conventional method of measuring median nerve distal latencies. In a population-based study, a health questionnaire was mailed to a random sample of 3000 participants (aged 25 to 74 years). Two hundred and sixty-two responders with numbness and/or tingling in the median nerve distribution, and 125 asymptomatic responders underwent clinical examination as well as portable and conventional median nerve distal latency measurements. Motor latency measured with the portable device was on average 0.1 millisecond (ms) lower than motor latency measured with the conventional method (95% limits of agreement, -0.8-0.5 ms). Sensory latency (wrist-to-index finger) measured with the portable device was on average 0.3 ms lower than sensory latency (long finger-to-wrist) measured with the conventional method (95% limits of agreement, -0.7-0.1 ms). Strong correlations were found between the latencies measured by the portable and conventional methods (Pearson correlation coefficient, 0.90-0.93). The agreement between the portable and conventional methods in measuring median nerve distal latencies appears to be acceptable. The cut-off value for abnormal sensory latency needs to be lower for the portable than the conventional method if the present measurement techniques are used.