Propofol and Fentanyl Take Longer for Induction of Anesthesia in Aortic Regurgitation: A Case-Controlled Prospective Study

volume (the forward flow) is decreased with increased in left ventricular end-diastolic volume (LVEDV). 2,3 This implies that the anesthetic drugs administered intravenously might take more time to attain effective concentration in the brain. Characteristically, administration of a large bolus of intravenous drug can blur this difference. However, a bolus dose of intravenous anesthetic drug may lead to a precipitous fall in the arterial blood pressure in patients with compromised cardiac diseases (eg, coronary artery diseases, 4,5 valvular diseases, 6 and cardiomyopathy 7 ). Therefore, slow administration of drugs is advocated in these patients. The authors hypothesized that, in patients with AR, intravenous administration of anesthetic drugs might be associated with a delay in induction of anesthesia. There are no reports in the literature to suggest that the induction of anesthesia takes longer in patients with AR than in patients with a normal aortic valve (AV); thus, the aim of this study was to compare the induction of anesthesia by slow infusion of intravenous propofol in patients with AR with the patients with normal AV function.