Publications by authors named "AHRENS E"

Background: Several health care networks have fully adopted second-generation supraglottic airway (SGA) i-gel. Real-world evidence of enhanced patient safety after such practice change is lacking. We hypothesized that the implementation of i-gel compared to the previous LMA®-Unique™ would be associated with a lower risk of airway-related safety events.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

In vivo fluorine-19 MRI using F-based tracer media has shown utility and versatility for a wide range of biomedical uses, particularly immune and stem cell detection, as well as biosensing. As with many advanced MRI acquisition techniques, the sensitivity and limit of detection (LOD) in vivo is a key consideration for a successful study outcome. In this review, we analyze the primary factors that limit cell LOD.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Over the past decade, legislative changes occurred in the USA and the western world that were followed by a substantial increase in reported use of cannabis among the general population. Among patients undergoing anesthesia for surgery or interventional procedures, older patients-often defined as adults over 65 years-are one of the fastest-growing populations. Within this group, the prevalence of cannabis use almost tripled over the past decade.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: Postoperative delirium (POD) in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with increased mortality and healthcare costs. In this study, we investigated the association of OSA risk, serum biomarkers for central nervous ischemia (S100B and NSE), and POD.

Methods: After research ethics approval, patients completed the STOP BANG assessment before undergoing elective surgery.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Goal And Aims: Performance evaluation of automatic sleep staging on two-channel subcutaneous electroencephalography.

Focus Technology: UNEEG medical's 24/7 electroencephalography SubQ (the SubQ device) with deep learning model U-SleepSQ.

Reference Method/technology: Manually scored hypnograms from polysomnographic recordings.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Study Objective: A low dynamic driving pressure during mechanical ventilation for general anesthesia has been associated with a lower risk of postoperative respiratory complications (PRC), a key driver of healthcare costs. It is, however, unclear whether maintaining low driving pressure is clinically relevant to measure and contain costs. We hypothesized that a lower dynamic driving pressure is associated with lower costs.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Long-term pulmonary complications have been reported after a coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19). We hypothesized that a history of COVID-19 is associated with a measurable decrease in baseline respiratory system compliance in patients undergoing general anesthesia.

Methods: In this hospital registry study, we included adult patients undergoing general anesthesia between January 2020 and March 2022 at a tertiary health care network in Massachusetts.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates a new imaging technique, multi-spectral cryo-fluorescence tomography (CFT), for tracking fluorescent perfluorocarbon (PFC) nanoemulsions in mice with inflammation models.
  • By injecting different fluorescent PFC nanoemulsions into mice and imaging them 24 hours later, researchers were able to see how well these tracers localized in various tissues.
  • The results show that CFT effectively identifies the distribution of PFC nanoemulsions, providing a high-resolution alternative for validating probe localization compared to traditional histological methods.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Previous studies suggested that surgeon sex is associated with differential patient outcomes. Whether this also applies to anaesthesia providers is unclear. We hypothesised that female sex of the primary anaesthesia provider is associated with lower risk of perioperative complications.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Acetaminophen and 5-hydroxytryptamine type 3 (5-HT3) receptor antagonists are administered as standard prophylaxes for postoperative pain, nausea, and vomiting. Preclinical studies, however, suggest that 5-HT3 antagonists may compromise acetaminophen's analgesic effect. This hospital registry study investigates whether 5-HT3 antagonists mitigate the analgesic effect of prophylactic acetaminophen in a perioperative setting.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Sleep deprivation and poor sleep quality are significant societal challenges that negatively impact individuals' health. The interaction between subjective sleep quality, objective sleep measures, physical and cognitive performance, and their day-to-day variations remains poorly understood. Our year-long study of 20 healthy individuals, using subcutaneous electroencephalography, aimed to elucidate these interactions, assessing data stability and participant satisfaction, usability, well-being and adherence.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Older adults (≥age 65) admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) are profoundly inactive during hospitalization. Older ICU survivors often experience life-changing symptoms, including cognitive dysfunction, physical impairment, and/or psychological distress, which are components of post-intensive care syndrome (PICS).

Objectives: To explore trends between inactivity and symptoms of PICS in older ICU survivors.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background/introduction: Critically ill older adults are profoundly inactive while in the intensive care unit (ICU), and this inactivity persists after discharge from the ICU. Older ICU survivors who were mechanically ventilated are at high risk for post-ICU cognitive impairment.

Objectives/aims: The present study examined the relationship between the ratio of daytime to nighttime activity and executive function in older ICU survivors.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: A new class of subcutaneous electroencephalography has enabled ultra long-term monitoring of people with epilepsy. The objective of this paper is to describe surgeons' experiences in an early series of implantations as well as discomfort or complications experienced by the participants.

Methods: We included 38 implantation procedures from two trials on people with epilepsy and healthy adults.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Study Objective: To investigate post-procedural recovery as well as peri-procedural respiratory and hemodynamic safety parameters with prolonged use of high-frequency jet ventilation (HFJV) versus conventional ventilation in patients undergoing catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation.

Design: Hospital registry study.

Setting: Tertiary academic teaching hospital in New England.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Researchers developed the Anticipated Surveillance Requirement Prediction Instrument (ASRI) to predict prolonged stays in the postanesthesia care unit (PACU) after outpatient surgeries.
  • They analyzed data from over 320,000 patients in New York and Massachusetts, creating the ASRI using a stepwise elimination method, which proved effective across different patient groups.
  • The ASRI showcases strong prediction accuracy, especially for afternoon surgeries, helping improve PACU scheduling and efficiency, particularly in facilities with no bed limitations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The treatment of intraoperative hypotension with phenylephrine may impair cerebral perfusion through vasoconstriction, which has been linked to postoperative delirium. The hypothesis was that intraoperative administration of phenylephrine, compared to ephedrine, is associated with higher odds of postoperative delirium.

Methods: A total of 103,094 hospitalized adults undergoing general anesthesia for noncardiac, non-neurosurgical procedures between 2008 and 2020 at two tertiary academic healthcare networks in Massachusetts were included in this multicenter hospital registry study.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objectives: High mechanical power and driving pressure (ΔP) have been associated with postoperative respiratory failure (PRF) and may be important parameters guiding mechanical ventilation. However, it remains unclear whether high mechanical power and ΔP merely reflect patients with poor respiratory system mechanics at risk of PRF. We investigated the effect of mechanical power and ΔP on PRF in cohorts after exact matching by patients' baseline respiratory system compliance.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: We studied the primary hypothesis that the training level of anesthesiology residents (first clinical anesthesia year, CA1 vs CA2/3 residents) is associated with early postoperative desaturation (oxygen saturation < 90%). We also analyzed the change in the rate (trajectory) of desaturation during the resident's development from CA1 to CA2/3 resident, and its effects on postoperative respiratory complications.

Design: Retrospective hospital registry study.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: Effective communication is essential to providing high-quality healthcare. For linguistically diverse patients, communication remains a barrier to receiving equitable healthcare throughout the globe. It is necessary to examine the concept of effective communication with linguistically diverse patients.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF