Anesthesiology
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Neonatal exposure to general anesthetics may pose significant neurocognitive risk. Human epidemiological studies demonstrate higher rates of learning disability among children with multiple, but not single, exposures to anesthesia. The authors employ a rat model to provide a histological correlate for these population-based observations. The authors examined long-term differences in hippocampal synaptic density, mitochondrial density, and dendritic spine morphology. ⋯ This suggests a "threshold effect" for general anesthetic-induced neurotoxicity, whereby even brief exposures induce long-lasting alterations in neuronal circuitry and sensitize surviving synapses to subsequent loss.
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Comment Letter
Old guidelines or methods cannot insure quality or progress.