Xenon does not increase heart rate-corrected cardiac QT interval in volunteers and in patients free of cardiovascular disease.

Background: Impaired cardiac repolarization, indicated by prolonged QT interval, may cause critical ventricular arrhythmias. Many anesthetics increase the QT interval by blockade of rapidly acting potassium rectifier channels. Although xenon does not affect these channels in isolated cardiomyocytes, the authors hypothesized that xenon increases the QT interval by direct and/or indirect sympathomimetic effects.

Xenon/remifentanil anesthesia protects against adverse effects of losartan on hemodynamic challenges induced by anesthesia and acute blood loss.

The authors aimed to test the hypothesis that xenon anesthesia limits adverse hypotensive effects of losartan during acute hemorrhage. In six conscious unsedated Beagle dogs, the systemic and pulmonary circulation were monitored invasively, and two subsequent 60-min hypotensive challenges were performed by (a) induction (propofol) and maintenance of anesthesia with isoflurane/remifentanil or xenon/remifentanil and by (b) subsequent hemorrhage (20 mL kg⁻¹ within 5 min) from a central vein. The same amount of blood was retransfused 1 h after hemorrhage.

The haemodynamic and catecholamine response to xenon/remifentanil anaesthesia in Beagle dogs.

The noble gas xenon seems to have minimal cardiovascular side-effects and so may be an ideal anaesthetic agent when investigating cardiovascular physiology. In comparison with standard modern anaesthetics, we investigated the haemodynamic and hormonal effects of xenon in Beagle dogs. After a 30 min baseline period, anaesthesia was induced with propofol and maintained with either (1) 1.

Minimum anesthetic concentration of sevoflurane with different xenon concentrations in swine.

Unlabelled: In a previous study, we described a partial antagonism of xenon (Xe) in combination with isoflurane. One hypothetical explanation suggested that Xe and isoflurane probably induced anesthesia via different pathways at the neuronal level. This warranted investigating the combination of Xe with other inhaled anesthetics to examine the relationship between Xe and volatile anesthetics in general.

Minimum alveolar anesthetic concentration of isoflurane with different xenon concentrations in Swine.

Unlabelled: For patients requiring a fraction of inspired oxygen more than 0.3, the use of xenon (Xe) as the sole anesthetic is limited because of its large minimum alveolar anesthetic concentration (MAC) of 71%. This warrants investigating the combination of Xe with other inhaled anesthetics.

Multicenter randomized comparison of the efficacy and safety of xenon and isoflurane in patients undergoing elective surgery.

Background: All general anesthetics used are known to have a negative inotropic side effect. Since xenon does not have a negative inotropic effect, it could be an interesting future general anesthetic. The aim of this clinical multicenter trial was to test the hypothesis of whether recovery after xenon anesthesia is faster compared with an accepted, standardized anesthetic regimen and that it is as effective and safe.

Xenon does not impair the responsiveness of cardiac muscle bundles to positive inotropic and chronotropic stimulation.

Background: Most volatile anesthetics exhibit a direct myocardial depressant effect. This side effect often limits their applicability in patients with impaired cardiac function. Xenon is a new gaseous anesthetic that did not show any adverse cardiovascular effects in clinical and experimental studies.