title: Management of neurologic complications of thoracic aortic surgery.
abstract: Neurologic complications of thoracic aortic surgery are strongly associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Identifying preoperative risk factors for neurologic injury may enable us to refine our perioperative approach, and to lessen or avoid these complications. Methods to identify stroke and spinal ischemia intraoperatively such as neurophysiologic monitoring may enable us to improve outcomes in these patients by immediately instituting measures to improve brain and spine perfusion. The development of both protocols and therapies to treat these complications has allowed us to mitigate and, at times, reverse neurologic injury both intraoperatively and postoperatively.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. mlmcgarv@mail.med.upenn.edu
authors.forename: Michael L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: McGarvey
authors.forename: Albert T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Cheung
authors.forename: Wilson
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Szeto
authors.forename: Steven R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Messe
mesh_terms: D000784:Aortic Dissection; D017545:Aortic Aneurysm, Thoracic / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D016343:Monitoring, Intraoperative; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000517:prevention & control; D020760:Spinal Cord Ischemia / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D020521:Stroke / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D019616:Thoracic Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods*