ON THE COVER:
The ventilatory response to hypoxia is a life-saving chemoreflex originating at the carotid bodies that is impaired by nondepolarizing neuromuscular blocking agents. In this issue of Anesthesiology, Broens et al. evaluated the effect of three strategies for reversal of a partial neuromuscular block on ventilatory control in healthy volunteers on the chemoreflex. In an accompanying Editorial View, Pandit and Eriksson discuss the effect of neuromuscular blockade on carotid body function, emphasizing that even when the train-of-four ratio has recovered to 1.0, the acute ventilatory response to hypoxia can remain significantly depressed. Cover illustration: A. Johnson, Vivo Visuals.
Pandit and Eriksson: Reversing Neuromuscular Blockade: Not Just the Diaphragm, but Carotid Body Function Too, p. 453
Broens et al.: Reversal of Partial Neuromuscular Block and the Ventilatory Response to Hypoxia: A Randomized Controlled Trial in Healthy Volunteers, p. 467
