Report on the Fifth PANDA Symposium on "Anesthesia and Neurodevelopment in Children".

On April 16 and 17, 2016, the Pediatric Anesthesia and Neurodevelopment Assessment (PANDA) study held its fifth biennial symposium at the Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of New York. The PANDA symposium has served as a key forum for clinicians, researchers, and other major stakeholders to gather and review the current state of preclinical and clinical research related to anesthetic neurotoxicity in children. Goals of the meeting included assessing how current knowledge has translated and impacted clinical care of patients who may be at risk, and future directions for research and policy.

Association Between a Single General Anesthesia Exposure Before Age 36 Months and Neurocognitive Outcomes in Later Childhood.

Importance: Exposure of young animals to commonly used anesthetics causes neurotoxicity including impaired neurocognitive function and abnormal behavior. The potential neurocognitive and behavioral effects of anesthesia exposure in young children are thus important to understand.

Objective: To examine if a single anesthesia exposure in otherwise healthy young children was associated with impaired neurocognitive development and abnormal behavior in later childhood.

Report of the fourth PANDA Symposium on "Anesthesia and Neurodevelopment in Children".

On April 12, 2014, the Pediatric Anesthesia and NeuroDevelopment Assessment (PANDA) study team held its fourth biennial scientific symposium at Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of New York (MS-CHONY). The symposium was organized by the PANDA study team and co-sponsored by the Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of New York-Presbyterian and the Department of Anesthesiology of Columbia University. The PANDA symposium has become a platform to review current preclinical and clinical data related to anesthetic neurotoxicity, to discuss relevant considerations in study design and approaches to future research among clinicians and researchers, and finally to engage key stakeholders in this controversial public health topic.

Feasibility and pilot study of the Pediatric Anesthesia NeuroDevelopment Assessment (PANDA) project.

Background: Animal studies have documented that exposure of the developing brain to commonly used anesthetic agents induces neurotoxicity and late abnormal neurobehavioral functions as adults. Results from clinical studies have all been analyzed using existing data sets, and these studies produced inconsistent results. To provide more definitive evidence to address the clinical relevance of anesthetic neurotoxicity in children, an interdisciplinary team of investigators designed and developed the Pediatric Anesthesia NeuroDevelopment Assessment (PANDA) project.

Report of the third PANDA symposium on "Anesthesia and Neurodevelopment in Children".

The Pediatric Anesthesia and NeuroDevelopment Assessment (PANDA) Project team organized its third biennial scientific symposium on "Anesthesia and Neurodevelopment in Children" at the Children's Hospital of New York on April 21, 2012. The event was co-sponsored by the New York-Presbyterian/Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital (MS-CHONY) and the Department of Anesthesiology of Columbia University. The day-long program included updates of recent research in anesthetic neurotoxicity in the developing brain from preclinical studies to clinical and patient-oriented outcome research.