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Anesthetic Agents and Their Cardiovascular Effects

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Pediatric and Congenital Cardiology, Cardiac Surgery and Intensive Care
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Abstract

A myriad of anesthetic approaches can be used for patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) undergoing cardiac or noncardiac surgery, procedures in the cardiac catheterization laboratory, or other diagnostic procedures such as magnetic resonance imaging. Any regimen must be designed with the goal of producing general anesthesia or adequate sedation, while preserving systemic cardiac output and oxygen delivery. These patients often have limited cardiac reserve and deranged cardiac pathophysiology, and if cardiac compromise from the anesthetic regimen occurs, resuscitation has a lower success rate than in patients with normal hearts [1–3]. This means that carefully considered selection of anesthetic regimen and drug dosage, with the patient’s unique pathophysiology in mind, along with anesthetic requirements for the particular procedure they are undergoing, is essential. Another chapter in this section addresses techniques for specific cardiac pathologies. This chapter will review the effects of anesthetic agents on hemodynamics and myocardial contractility in patients with congenital heart disease.

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Correspondence to Dean B. Andropoulos .

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Andropoulos, D.B. (2014). Anesthetic Agents and Their Cardiovascular Effects. In: Da Cruz, E., Ivy, D., Jaggers, J. (eds) Pediatric and Congenital Cardiology, Cardiac Surgery and Intensive Care. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-4619-3_146

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-4619-3_146

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