ABSTRACT
A 48-year-old woman with aortitis syndrome underwent clipping of dissecting aneurysm of the left posterior inferior cerebellar artery following subarachnoid hemorrhage. Preoperative echocardiography demonstrated moderate aortic regurgitation and pulmonary hypertension. Intravenous infusion (1900 ml.day-1) was performed to avoid cerebral vasospasm, but the patient developed lung edema. She received delayed surgical treatment after the improvement of lung symptoms. Anesthesia was induced with fentanyl (0.1 mg), propofol (90 mg) and vecuronium (6 mg). Radial arterial flow was judged to be insufficient for cannulation, and a cannulation was therefore performed on the dorsal pedis artery. During induction of anesthesia, there was a significant decrease in the arterial pressure, that required a total of 32 mg of intravenous ephedrine. Following tracheal intubation, a central venous catheter was inserted and dopamine was continuously administered. The patient was positioned in the park bench position. We thought that the placement of the introducer for Swan-Ganz catheter was difficult under the position and Swan-Ganz catheter was not inserted. Anesthesia was maintained with sevoflurane, air, and oxygen. We continuously monitored the central venous pressure as an indicator of fluid balance. In this case, we monitored dorsal pedis arterial pressure directly, which might not be sufficiently reliable to predict the decrease in cerebral blood flow.
