Post-COVID-19 condition: systemic inflammation and low functional exercise capacity.

Introduction: Post-COVID-19 condition (PCC) is characterised by a plethora of symptoms, with fatigue appearing as the most frequently reported. The alterations that drive both the persistent and post-acute disease newly acquired symptoms are not yet fully described. Given the lack of robust knowledge regarding the mechanisms of PCC we have examined the impact of inflammation in PCC, by evaluating serum cytokine profile and its potential involvement in inducing the different symptoms reported.

Assessing ultrasonographic optic nerve sheath diameter in animal model with anesthesia regimens.

Purpose: To determine the normal optical nerve sheath (ONS) diameter ultrasonography (ONSUS) and evaluate the possible effects of drugs on ONS diameter during anesthetic induction in healthy pigs.

Methods: Healthy piglets were divided into three groups: a control group, that received xylazine and ketamine (X/K); other that received xylazine, ketamine and propofol (X/K/P); and a third group that received xylazine, ketamine, and thiopental (X/K/T). The sheath diameter was assessed by ultrasonography calculating the average of three measurements of each eye from the left and right sides.

Evaluation of cerebral hemodynamics by transcranial Doppler ultrasonography and its correlation with intracranial pressure in an animal model of intracranial hypertension.

Background: Transcranial Doppler has been tested in the evaluation of cerebral hemodynamics as a non-invasive assessment of intracranial pressure (ICP), but there is controversy in the literature about its actual benefit and usefulness in this situation.

Objective: To investigate cerebral blood flow assessed by Doppler technique and correlate with the variations of the ICP in the acute phase of intracranial hypertension in an animal model.

Methods: An experimental animal model of intracranial hypertension was used.

Inflammatory markers assessment in an animal model of intracranial hypertension: a randomized trial.

Background: Intracranial hypertension (ICH) is a common final pathway of most neurosurgical pathologies and leads to poor prognosis if not detected and treated properly. Inflammatory markers have been assessed in clinical scenarios of neurological injuries, in which systemic and brain tissue aggressions may introduce bias. There is a lack of studies under controlled settings to isolate the ICH effect on inflammation.

Impact of Three Methods of Ischemic Preconditioning on Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury in a Pig Model of Liver Transplantation.

Background: Ischemic preconditioning (IPC), either direct (DIPC) or remote (RIPC), is a procedure aimed at reducing the harmful effects of ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury.

Objectives: To assess the local and systemic effects of DIPC, RIPC, and both combined, in the pig liver transplant model.

Materials And Methods: Twenty-four pigs underwent orthotopic liver transplantation and were divided into 4 groups: control, direct donor preconditioning, indirect preconditioning at the recipient, and direct donor with indirect recipient preconditioning.

Estimation of intracranial pressure by ultrasound of the optic nerve sheath in an animal model of intracranial hypertension.

Background: Ultrasound of the optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) has been used as a non-invasive and cost-effective bedside alternative to invasive intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring. However, ONSD time-lapse behavior in intracranial hypertension (ICH) and its relief by means of either saline infusion or surgery are still unknown. The objective of this study was to correlate intracranial pressure (ICP) and ultrasonography of the optic nerve sheath (ONS) in an experimental animal model of ICH and determine the interval needed for ONSD to return to baseline levels.

The influence of intracranial hypertension on static cerebral autoregulation.

Objectives: To analyze the influences of mild and severe intracranial hypertension on cerebral autoregulation (CA).

Patients And Methods: Duroc piglets were monitored with an intracranial pressure (ICP) catheter. Intracranial hypertension was induced via infusion of 4 or 7 ml of saline solution by a bladder catheter that was inserted into the parietal lobe.

The Effects of Induction and Treatment of Intracranial Hypertension on Cerebral Autoregulation: An Experimental Study.

Background: This study aimed to analyse cerebral autoregulation (CA) during induction and treatment of intracranial hypertension (ICH) in an experimental model.

Materials And Methods: Landrace and Duroc piglets were divided into mild and severe ICH groups. Four or seven millilitres of saline solution was infused into paediatric bladder catheter inserted in the parietal lobe (balloon inflation).

Effects of ischemic preconditioning in a pig model of large-for-size liver transplantation.

Objective: In most cases of pediatric liver transplantation, the clinical scenario of large-for-size transplants can lead to hepatic dysfunction and a decreased blood supply to the liver graft. The objective of the present experimental investigation was to evaluate the effects of ischemic preconditioning on this clinical entity.

Methods: Eighteen pigs were divided into three groups and underwent liver transplantation: a control group, in which the weights of the donors were similar to those of the recipients, a large-for-size group, and a large-for-size + ischemic preconditioning group.

Pentoxifylline associated to hypertonic saline solution attenuates inflammatory process and apoptosis after intestinal ischemia/reperfusion in rats.

Purpose: To evaluate intestinal inflammatory and apoptotic processes after intestinal ischemia/reperfusion injury, modulated by pentoxifylline and hypertonic saline.

Methods: It was allocated into four groups (n=6), 24 male Wistar rats (200 to 250 g) and submitted to intestinal ischemia for 40 min and reperfusion for 80 min: IR (did not receive any treatment); HS group (Hypertonic Saline, 4 ml/kg-IV); PTX group (Pentoxifylline, 30 mg/kg-IV); HS+PTX group (Hypertonic Saline and Pentoxifylline). All animals were heparinized (100 U/kg).

Large-for-size liver transplantation: a flowmetry study in pigs.

Background: Ischemia-reperfusion injury is partly responsible for morbidity in pediatric liver transplantation. Large-for-size (LFS) liver transplantation has not been fully studied in the pediatric population, and the effects of reperfusion injury may be underestimated.

Materials And Methods: Thirteen Landrace-Large white pigs weighing 23 kg (range, 17-38 kg) underwent orthotopic liver transplantation.

Experimental model of intracranial hypertension with continuous multiparametric monitoring in swine.

Objective: Intracranial hypertension (IH) develops in approximately 50% of all patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). Therefore, it is very important to identify a suitable animal model to study and understand the pathophysiology of refractory IH to develop effective treatments.

Methods: We describe a new experimental porcine model designed to simulate expansive brain hematoma causing IH.

A simplified experimental model of large-for-size liver transplantation in pigs.

Objective: The ideal ratio between liver graft mass and recipient body weight for liver transplantation in small infants is unknown; however, if this ratio is over 4%, a condition called large-for-size may occur. Experimental models of large-for-size liver transplants have not been described in the literature. In addition, orthotopic liver transplantation is marked by high morbidity and mortality rates in animals due to the clamping of the venous splanchnic system.

Endovascular treatment of peripheral arterial injury with covered stents: an experimental study in pigs.

Objective: To evaluate the feasibility of using endovascular repair to treat penetrating arterial injuries with covered stents. Feasibility was examined according to the circumferential extent of the injury.

Introduction: Surgical trauma often increases the risk of major morbidity and mortality associated with vascular injury, and endovascular repair has many advantages in such situations.