title: Neurobehavioral differences in superselective Wada testing with amobarbital versus lidocaine.
abstract: Four patients with cerebral arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) underwent superselective Wada testing with intraarterial amobarbital and lidocaine before embolization. In all four patients, the use of lidocaine detected clinically significant neurologic deficits that amobarbital alone did not, likely because of the pharmacodynamic differences of the two agents. The use of lidocaine with amobarbital for superselective Wada testing in patients with cerebral AVMs may improve the sensitivity and predictive value of this test in the future.
authors.affiliation: Cerebrovascular Center of the Neurological Institute, Department of Neurology, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Brian-Fred M
authors.initials: BF
authors.lastname: Fitzsimmons
authors.forename: Randolph S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Marshall
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pile-Spellman
authors.forename: Ronald M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Lazar
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000654:Amobarbital; D000779:Anesthetics, Local; D004621:Embolization, Therapeutic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives; D007269:Injections, Intra-Arterial; D002538:Intracranial Arteriovenous Malformations / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D008012:Lidocaine; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009518:New York
chemical_list: D000779:Anesthetics, Local; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives; D008012:Lidocaine; D000654:Amobarbital