Does B-type Natriuretic Peptide or Its Gene Polymorphism Predict Patient Outcome after Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery?

may be less common than intentional hyperoxia in pediatric anesthesia practice. Even with the classic 70% nitrous oxide–30% oxygen plus vola-tile anesthetic inhalational induction sequence, hyperoxia exists. Recent bench research using cell cultures and animal models shows that hyperoxia alters cell ultrastructure and function across multiple organelle and neuronal action sites: mitochondria, membrane surfaces, cell nuclei, and progenitor cell lines. 12–14 Reactive oxygen species, with other mechanisms, are a source of submolecular injury where hyperoxia is induced experimentally. Such data suggest that neurocidal/neurotoxic potential effects research must account for hyperoxia’s submolecular effects, too— effects Engle’s model predicts will express at higher levels of biopsychosocial organization. prospective and retrospective studies that would allow for the control of comorbidity and variations in anesthetic management, the examina-tion of effects according to surgical procedure, the determination of effect by LD type, and more comprehensive measures of academic achievement, cognitive/memory functions, and quality of life. This study represents an initial attempt at unraveling this complex and difficult issue. Other studies planned and currently under way will, no doubt, add to the slowly accumulating body of clinical data that we hope will help to resolve this important and difficult issue.