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Mechanisms of POD and POCD: Effects of Anesthetics

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Anesthesia and Neurotoxicity

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Abstract

Postoperative delirium (POD) and postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) worsen quality of life in postoperative patients and, moreover, impose huge cost on hospitals. Previous clinical reports revealed that POD appears to be a risk for high mortality in the elderly and POCD appears to have long-lasting adverse effect on learning performance in children. Nevertheless nobody has proposed the effective way to cure them. We are still struggling in exploring mechanisms underlying POD and POCD because of the following reasons: (1) clinical definitions may be obscure, (2) underlying mechanisms are multifactorial, (3) less animal models comparable with patients are available. Under these difficulties, a considerable number of studies have contributed to identify key molecules and neural circuits essential for the establishment of these diseases and fortunately some of them appear to postulate reliable mechanisms. Integrating latest findings, here we discuss about these mechanisms underlying POD and POCD.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology/Anesthesiology, Graduate School of Medicine, Yokohama City University, 3-9 Fukuura, Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, 236-0004, Japan

    Tomoyuki Miyazaki M.D., Ph.D.

  2. Department of Anesthesiology, Graduate School of Medicine, Yokohama City University, 3-9 Fukuura, Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, 236-0004, Japan

    Yoshikazu Yamaguchi M.D. & Takahisa Goto M.D., Ph.D.

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  1. Tomoyuki Miyazaki M.D., Ph.D.
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  2. Yoshikazu Yamaguchi M.D.
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  3. Takahisa Goto M.D., Ph.D.
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Correspondence to Tomoyuki Miyazaki M.D., Ph.D. .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Medicine, Hokkaido University Graduate, School of Medicine, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan

    Yuji Morimoto

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Miyazaki, T., Yamaguchi, Y., Goto, T. (2017). Mechanisms of POD and POCD: Effects of Anesthetics. In: Morimoto, Y. (eds) Anesthesia and Neurotoxicity. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-55624-4_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-55624-4_9

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