Isoflurane inhibits growth but does not cause cell death in hippocampal neural precursor cells grown in culture.

Background: Isoflurane causes long-term hippocampal-dependent learning deficits in rats despite limited isoflurane-induced hippocampal cell death, raising questions about the causality between isoflurane-induced cell death and isoflurane-induced cognitive function. Neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus is required for hippocampal-dependent learning and thus constitutes a potential alternative mechanism by which cognition can be altered after neonatal anesthesia. The authors tested the hypothesis that isoflurane alters proliferation and differentiation of hippocampal neural progenitor cells.

Pulse oximetry in the diagnosis of acute mountain sickness.

Acute mountain sickness (AMS) is a common condition in individuals who travel to altitudes over 2000 m. While AMS is an important public health problem, no measurements can reliably support or predict the diagnosis with any degree of confidence. We therefore set out to study whether pulse oximetry data are associated with AMS.