Sevoflurane (0.4 MAC) does not influence cerebral compliance in healthy individuals

The use of sevoflurane is favored for its rapid onset and offset of anesthe sia as well as good intraoperative titratability of the anesthetic. With re gard to neuroanesthesia, the reported effects of sevoflurane on cerebral he modynamics and cerebrospinal fluid dynamics are inconsistent. We used phase -contrast magnetic resonance imaging measurement of systolic cerebrospinal fluid peak velocity (CSFVPeak) to evaluate the effect of sevoflurane on cer ebral compliance in healthy individuals. During administration of 0.4 MAC s evoflurane, systolic CSEVPeak in the aqueduct of Sylvius remained unchanged , thereby indicating unaffected cerebral compliance: (CSFVPeak baseline: -3 .1 +/- 1.0 cm/s vs, sevoflurane: -3.0 +/- 1.2 cm/s). We conclude that low-d ose administration of sevoflurane does not influence cerebral compliance in healthy individuals, but the influence of coexisting intracranial patholog y or comedications on cerebral compliance requires further clinical investi gation.