Anesthesiology

Abstract

Phenylephrine, a pure α-adrenergic agonist, and ephedrine, an indirectly acting α- and β-adrenergic agonist, are commonly administered during neurosurgical procedures to treat anesthesia-related hypotension and maintain cerebral perfusion pressure. In this issue of Anesthesiology, Koch et al. compared ephedrine and phenylephrine treatment on cerebral macro- and microcirculation, measured by cerebral blood flow, and capillary transit time heterogeneity, in anesthetized brain tumor patients. In an accompanying editorial, García and Brown discuss the current limitations of intraoperative brain monitoring and the implications of these new findings. Cover Illustration: A. Johnson, Vivo Visuals Studio.