The Effects of 30% and 60% Xenon Inhalation on Pial Vessel Diameter and Intracranial Pressure in Rabbits

Abstract

Xenon might increase cerebral blood flow; however, 0.7 minimum alveolar anesthetic concentration xenon preserved both low intracranial pressure and CO(2) reactivity of the cerebral vessels in the normal rabbit.

Myocardial Blood Flow during General Anesthesia with Xenon in Humans

“…5 These findings might be explained by xenon having minimal or no vasodilating effects in the arterial system. 18 In contrast, other anesthetics known to induce vasodilation (thereby decreasing vascular resistance) have been found to increase coronary flow in a concentration-dependent manner, as has been demonstrated for isoflurane and sevoflurane. 34 Moreover, the latter agents increased coronary flow despite a decrease in cardiac work and thus myocardial oxy- Data are mean Ϯ SD.…”

“…Because animal data suggest that xenon inhalation is associated with only minimal arterial vasodilation 18 and has little or no effect on myocardial perfusion, 5 we hypothesized that general anesthesia with xenon would have only negligible effects on MBF in man. We tested our hypothesis in healthy volunteers undergoing general anesthesia with 1 minimum alveolar concentration (MAC) xenon.…”

Effects of xenon on ischemic spinal cord injury in rabbits: a comparison with propofol

“…13,14 Furthermore, the MAC of xenon used in the present study is different from those in previous studies because the MAC is lower in rabbit than in rat (85% and 161%, respectively). 22 Therefore, 70% of xenon in rabbits is 0.82 MAC, whereas 75% of xenon in rats is 0.46 MAC. As a result, we used a higher concentration of xenon compared with those in previous studies.…”

Xenon: from stranger to guardian

“…Xenon is not 'inert' with respect to cerebral haemodynamics; increased cerebral blood flow [37][38][39] with preserved cerebral autoregulation [38][39][40] is thought to occur acutely with xenon administration. However, in animals an increase in intracranial pressure with xenon administration has not been reported, despite documented cerebral vasodilatation [41]. In humans, xenon has been used safely in radiological practice; in one study of head trauma sufferers, xenon appeared to increase intracranial and cerebral perfusion pressure, but without any evidence of cerebral oligaemia or ischaemia [42].…”