Exposure to surgery under general anaesthesia and brain magnetic resonance imaging changes in older adults.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Preclinical studies suggest that exposure to general anaesthesia (GA) could cause neurodegeneration consistent with Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology. Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is useful to study structural brain changes. We tested the hypothesis that exposure to surgery with GA (surgery/GA) is associated with greater cortical thinning and increased frequency of white matter lesions.

Methods

This is a cross-sectional analysis of 70-91-yr-old participants enrolled in the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging who had baseline MRI. The thickness of selected cortical regions, the volume of white matter hyperintensities, and the frequency of cortical infarctions were compared in participants who were and were not exposed to surgery/GA within 20 yr before the first M

SUBMITTER: Sprung J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6883493 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature