Correlation of blood volume values and pulmonary artery catheter measurements.

Objective: To correlate the values generated by direct total blood volume measurement with pulmonary artery catheter parameters and commonly used laboratory values in the management of critically ill patients.

Methods: This study was carried out at the Lutheran Medical Center, Brooklyn, New York, United States of America, during the period 1998-1999. We prospectively correlated the total blood volume (TBV) values generated by the blood volume analyzer (BVA)-100 using I131-tagged albumin, with the values obtained from pulmonary artery catheter (PAC) of central venous pressure, pulmonary capillary wedge pressure, cardiac output, and with laboratory values of hematocrit, lactate, arterial blood gas and mixed venous blood, in critically ill patients.

Primary thoracoscopic evaluation of pleural effusion with local anesthesia: an alternative approach.

Objective: The development of a thoracoscopically assisted technique to be performed with the patient under local anesthesia for both diagnostic and therapeutic purposes when treating pleural effusions and empyemas in high-risk surgical patients.

Methods: Twenty patients with pleural effusion or empyema who were also determined to be at high risk for complications following a thoracotomy, pleural biopsy, general anesthesia, or all of these, underwent placement of a thoracoscope while under local anesthesia followed by thoracic fluid drainage, pleural biopsy, and pleurodesis as required. Patients were retrospectively evaluated for a variety of factors including personal history, pre-existing medical conditions, and pre- and postoperative course.

Nitric oxide expression by interleukin-10 in the endoscopic and open methods of vein harvesting in coronary artery bypass surgery.

Objective: Interleukin-10 (IL-10) is an anti-inflammatory cytokine that suppresses lymphocyte functions, regulates production of proinflammatory cytokines, and suppresses nitric oxide production by activated macrophages. We examined IL-10 expression and its value as a surrogate index for nitric oxide (NO) production in endothelial cultures obtained from saphenous vein samples.

Methods: Using 2 different techniques (the open and endoscopic), we harvested samples of human saphenous veins from 90 randomly selected patients undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG).

Cardiac surgical procedures and glove reinforcements.

The purpose of this prospective study is to determine the frequency and site of glove perforation during cardiac surgical procedures. Over a period of six months, gloves from 206 surgical team members were collected at the conclusion of surgery. All cases of known perforations were eliminated from the study.