Endotracheal tubes are intended to protect the airway and assist with mechanical ventilation in sedated patients. The blood vessels of the tracheal mucosa can be compressed by high tracheal tube cuff pressures (> 30 cm H2O), leading to reduced mucosal blood flow with resulting ischemia and morbidity. Previous research showed a direct correlation between aircraft pressure altitude and the pressure reading from the tracheal cuff, with resulting pressures > 80 cm H2O at 10,000 ft.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe mean fluorescent intensity obtained using single antigen beads does not represent the titer of the serum sample very well because the degree of saturation of the antigen on the bead varies by individual bead and the human leukocyte antigen antibody-binding site on the bead may not duplicate the activity of the serum's antibodies in vivo. The flow crossmatch appears to come closer to correlating with the titer. As we have shown, the titer will roughly correlate with the flow crossmatch.
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