Speaker Profile
Juraj Sprung

Juraj Sprung MD, PhD

Anesthesiology
Rochester, Minnesota, United States of America

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Dr. Sprung started his research career by studying the mechanics of breathing and patterns of diaphragm contractility. He conducted research to investigate contractility of the heart in the presence of hypothermia and the effects of various intravenous anesthetics, which were tested on human myocardium explanted from patients with end-stage heart failure undergoing heart transplant.

Dr. Sprung's current interests include studying the short-term and long-term outcomes of patients with rare medical conditions undergoing anesthesia. Due to the large surgical volume at Mayo Clinic, and the availability of detailed medical records, it is possible to evaluate anesthetic and surgical outcomes of a relatively large number of patients with extremely rare diseases such as myotonia congenita, cor triatriatum, DiGeorge syndrome, LEOPARD syndrome, Swyer-James syndrome and the like. The information gathered through these comprehensive reviews of medical records provides insight into the perianesthetic courses of such conditions, which due to their rarity cannot be evaluated in a prospective fashion.
Dr. Sprung's research team studies outcomes of exposure to anesthesia and neurocognitive function. They are currently focusing on the effects of exposure to anesthesia throughout the life span, and are exploring the possibility of an association between single or multiple anesthetic exposures and permanent cognitive deficits — specifically, development of Alzheimer's disease.