Massive systemic air embolism during percutaneous radiofrequency ablation of a primary lung tumor.

We report the case of a systemic air embolism occurring during pulmonary radiofrequency ablation. At the end of the procedure, the patient experienced a sudden myocardial infarction, complicated by ventricular fibrillation, cardiac arrest, and cerebral infarction. Thoracic computed tomography showed an air-blood level inside the left atrium and ventricle, the aortic arch, and the coronary arteries.

Median effective infusion dose (ED50) of alfentanil for monitored anesthesia care of percutaneous vertebroplasty of osteoporotic fractures.

Unlabelled: Percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP) consists of injecting small quantities of orthopedic cement to consolidate pathologic vertebral bodies. The procedure is brief but painful during vertebral puncture and cement injection requiring either general anesthesia or monitored anesthesia care with opioids. The optimal dose of alfentanil in this setting is unknown.

Audibility of anaesthesia alarms during magnetic resonance imaging: should we be alarmed?

Background And Objective: The effects of MRI acoustic noise on anaesthesia safety concerns have not yet been documented. The objectives of this study were to provide subjective and objective evaluations of anaesthesia alarm audibility during MRI and to review the literature to determine whether or not to worry about our results.

Methods: Following Institutional Review Board's approval, we tested the audibility of four anaesthesia equipment alarms and selected one of them.