Aspiration and the laryngeal mask airway: three cases and a review of the literature.

The primary limitation of the laryngeal mask airway (LMA) is that it does not reliably protect the lungs from regurgitated stomach content. We describe three cases of aspiration associated with the LMA, including the first brain injury, the first death, and the first associated with the intubating LMA, and review the 20 specific case reports of aspiration associated with the LMA that we were able to find described in the literature.

[Special features of intensive care of toxic shock syndrome. Review and case report of a TSST-1 associated toxic-shock syndrome with adult respiratory distress syndrome and multiple organ failure from a staphylococcal panaritium].

Toxic-shock-syndrome (TSS) is an acute febrile, exanthematous illness caused by toxins such as toxic-shock-syndrome-toxine-1 (TSST-1) and other endotoxines from staphylococcus aureus with an incidence of 0,5 per 100.000 inhabitants. Patients with menstrual toxic-shock-syndrome (menstrual-TSS) usually have TSS associated with menstruation and use of a vaginal device such as tampons.

ARDS in fulminant ornithosis and treatment with extracorporeal lung assist.

We report a 47-year-old male patient with fulminant ornithosis who developed severe respiratory failure leading to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) complicated by gastrointestinal, neurological and renal symptoms. ARDS was successfully treated by extracorporeal lung assist. As leukocytosis is typically absent in ornithosis, C-reactive protein, interleukin 6 and procalcitonin were used as infection parameters in order to monitor clinical development.

[Intra- and postoperative airway management of tracheal carina ruptures from bilateral endobronchial intubation].

Objective: Carina near tracheal ruptures following blunt chest trauma or endotracheal intubation are rare, but lifethreatening events. Both early diagnosis by fibreoptic bronchoscopy and immediate surgical treatment are essential. There is no uniform recommendation for airway-management concerning the tube.

["Treatment of total atelectasis of the left lung in severe ARDS with side-separated ventilation and surfactant administration"].

Severe thoracic trauma is always an important risk factor for the development of acute pulmonary failure. The course is often complicated by barotrauma or volutrauma. We report on a 48-year-old patient who was transferred to us nine days after a bicycle accident because of a severe disturbance of gas exchange and atelectasis of the left lung refractory to therapy.

[The genotoxic effect of epichlorohydrin and epoxy resins].

The aim of this study is the interpretation of the available bibliography concerning the present information about the mutagenic and carcinogenic effects of epichlorohydrin and epoxy resins. An intervention study on 141 exposed workers shows the necessity of an investigation about the well-timed perception of the carcinogenic risk. The development of an electrophoretic method is recommended to detect the alkylated hemoglobin by way of the biological monitoring.