Figure 1.
Overview of experimental design. Four hypotheses were tested. 1) Inspired MAC of sevoflurane decreases with increasing duration of anesthesia. 2) Sevoflurane in infancy causes neurocognitive dysfunction later in life. 3) In a mixed model of tissue injury under anesthesia, the deficit is due to the anesthetic but not due to tissue injury. 4) Anesthesia-induced memory deficit is treatable, using delayed environmental enrichment.
FiO2 fraction of inspired oxygen, MAC minimum alveolar concentration, P postnatal day