Determination of Minimal Alveolar Anesthetic Concentration MAC

The term minimum alveolar anesthetic concentration (MAC) was coined by Merkel and Eger (1963) as an index to compare various anesthetic agents. 

The use of MAC which represents the partial anesthetic pressure in the brain has gained wide acceptance (Eger et al. 1965 Quasha et al. 1980). 

For man, Saidman and Eger (1964) defined MAC as the point at which 50 % of the patients moved in response to a surgical incision. 

A method for determining minimum alveolar concentration of anesthetic in the rat was published 

Issues in the design and interpretation of minimum alveolar anesthetic concentration studies were discussed by Sonner (2002). 

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