Brain activity during intraoperative general anesthesia using resting-state functional magnetic resonance...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Anesthesiology
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) is used to study anesthetic effects at sedation levels.
• Most studies use single anesthetic agents and examine changes in spontaneous brain activity.
• No prior studies have utilized rs-fMRI to assess anesthetic effects during actual surgery.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the feasibility of using rs-fMRI to assess the effects of sevoflurane general anesthesia during neurosurgery.
• To investigate changes in brain functional connectivity and local neural activity under anesthesia.

Main Methods:

• Twenty adult patients undergoing transsphenoidal surgery were enrolled.
• Brain functional connectivity (thalamus) and local neural activity (fALFF) were compared before and during anesthesia.
• rs-fMRI data were analyzed using seed-to-voxel correlation and fALFF, with artifact exclusion.

Main Results:

• Analysis included 16 patients; significant decreases in thalamic functional connectivity were observed.
• Connectivity decreased between the thalamus and contralateral thalamus, caudate nucleus, and globus pallidus.
• Fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (fALFF) decreased in the precuneus and posterior cingulate cortex.

Conclusions:

• Intraoperative rs-fMRI is feasible for evaluating general anesthesia effects during neurosurgery.
• Findings align with previous research on anesthetic effects on brain activity.
• Demonstrates the utility of rs-fMRI in real-time surgical settings.