title: Halogenated anaesthetics and cardiac protection in cardiac and non-cardiac anaesthesia.
abstract: Volatile anaesthetic agents have direct protective properties against ischemic myocardial damage. The implementation of these properties during clinical anaesthesia can provide an additional tool in the treatment or prevention, or both, of ischemic cardiac dysfunction in the perioperative period. A recent meta-analysis showed that desflurane and sevoflurane reduce postoperative mortality and incidence of myocardial infarction following cardiac surgery, with significant advantages in terms of postoperative cardiac troponin release, need for inotrope support, time on mechanical ventilation, intensive care unit and overall hospital stay. Multicentre, randomised clinical trials had previously demonstrated that the use of desflurane can reduce the postoperative release of cardiac troponin I, the need for inotropic support, and the number of patients requiring prolonged hospitalisation following coronary artery bypass graft surgery either with and without cardiopulmonary bypass. The American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Guidelines recommend volatile anaesthetic agents during non-cardiac surgery for the maintenance of general anaesthesia in patients at risk for myocardial infarction. Nonetheless, evidence in non-coronary surgical settings is contradictory and will be reviewed in this paper together with the mechanisms of cardiac protection by volatile agents.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiothoracic Anesthesia and Intensive Care, Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Milano, Italy. landoni.giovanni@hsr.it
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Landoni
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bignami
authors.forename: Fochi
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Oliviero
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zangrillo
mesh_terms: D018685:Anesthetics, Inhalation / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass / Q000009:adverse effects; D000077335:Desflurane; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D019157:Ischemic Preconditioning, Myocardial / Q000379:methods; D007530:Isoflurane / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000494:pharmacology; D008738:Methyl Ethers / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000097:blood / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D000077149:Sevoflurane; D013514:Surgical Procedures, Operative; D019210:Troponin I / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D018685:Anesthetics, Inhalation; D008738:Methyl Ethers; D019210:Troponin I; D000077149:Sevoflurane; D000077335:Desflurane; D007530:Isoflurane