Functional improvement in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis undergoing single lung transplantation.

Objective: To evaluate the changes in lung function in the first year after single lung transplantation in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).

Methods: We retrospectively evaluated patients with IPF who underwent single lung transplantation between January of 2006 and December of 2012, reviewing the changes in the lung function occurring during the first year after the procedure.

Results: Of the 218 patients undergoing lung transplantation during the study period, 79 (36.

Effect of the systemic administration of methylprednisolone on the lungs of brain-dead donor rats undergoing pulmonary transplantation.

Objective: Most lung transplants are obtained from brain-dead donors. The physiopathology of brain death involves hemodynamics, the sympathetic nervous system, and inflammatory mechanisms. Administering methylprednisolone 60 min after inducing brain death in rats has been shown to modulate pulmonary inflammatory activity.

Endobronchial perfluorocarbon reduces inflammatory activity before and after lung transplantation in an animal experimental model.

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of liquid perfluorocarbon (PFC) as an adjuvant substance for lung preservation and assess its role in pulmonary protection after transplantation.

Methods: Seventy-two rat lungs were flushed with low-potassium dextran (LPD) solution and randomized into three main groups: control with LPD alone and experimental with 3 (PFC3) and 7 mL/kg (PFC7) of endobronchial PFC instilled just after harvest. Each group was divided into four subgroups according to preservation time (3, 6, 12, and 24 hours).

Surgical treatment of non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis in Brazilian children.

Purpose: To determine the clinical characteristics of patients submitted to surgical treatment for non-cystic fibrosis (CF) bronchiectasis, the indications for surgery, and the results obtained at a referral facility for pediatric thoracic surgery.

Methods: Between January 1998 and December 2009, we retrospectively reviewed the medical charts of 109 pediatric patients with non-CF bronchiectasis who underwent surgical treatment. These findings were subsequently analyzed by focusing on postoperative complications and long-term results.

Effectiveness of diaphragmatic stimulation with single-channel electrodes in rabbits.

Every year, a large number of individuals become dependent on mechanical ventilation because of a loss of diaphragm function. The most common causes are cervical spinal trauma and neuromuscular diseases. We have developed an experimental model to evaluate the performance of electrical stimulation of the diaphragm in rabbits using single-channel electrodes implanted directly into the muscle.