General anesthetics and long-term neurotoxicity

M Perouansky1

  • 1Department of Anesthesiology, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine, B6/319 Clinical Science Center, 600 Highland Ave., Madison, WI, USA. mperouansky@wisc.edu

Summary

General anesthetics can cause long-lasting and profound effects on the brain, particularly in neonates and the aging brain. Anesthetic neurotoxicity may lead to apoptosis, cognitive dysfunction, and accelerated neurodegeneration.

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