Diastolic Function and Peripheral Venous Pressure as Indices for Fluid Responsiveness in Cardiac Surgical Patients.

Objective: Identifying fluid responsiveness is critical to optimizing perfusion while preventing fluid overload. An experimental study of hypovolemic shock resuscitation showed the importance of ventricular compliance and peripheral venous pressure (PVP) on fluid responsiveness. The authors tested the hypothesis that reduced ventricular compliance measured using transesophageal echocardiography results in decreased fluid responsiveness after a fluid bolus.

A prospective case series evaluating use of an in-line air detection and purging system to reduce air burden during major surgery.

Background: Intravascular air embolism (AE) is a preventable but potentially catastrophic complication caused by intravenous tubing, trauma, and diagnostic and surgical procedures. The potentially fatal risks of arterial AE are well-known, and emerging evidence demonstrates impact of venous AEs on inflammatory response and coagulation factors. A novel FDA-approved in-line air detection and purging system was used to detect and remove air caused by administering a rapid fluid bolus during surgery.

Production and assessment of decellularized pig and human lung scaffolds.

The authors have previously shown that acellular (AC) trachea-lung scaffolds can (1) be produced from natural rat lungs, (2) retain critical components of the extracellular matrix (ECM) such as collagen-1 and elastin, and (3) be used to produce lung tissue after recellularization with murine embryonic stem cells. The aim of this study was to produce large (porcine or human) AC lung scaffolds to determine the feasibility of producing scaffolds with potential clinical applicability. We report here the first attempt to produce AC pig or human trachea-lung scaffold.

Percutaneous venovenous perfusion-induced systemic hyperthermia for lung cancer: a phase I safety study.

Background: Veno-venous perfusion-induced systemic hyperthermia (VV-PISH) homogeneously raises core body temperature potentially improving outcomes from metastatic lung cancer.

Methods: Patients (n = 10) with stage IV lung cancer, received VV-PISH (>or= 42 degrees C to View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Postthoracotomy pain management.

The following techniques appear efficacious in controlling postthoracotomy pain and reducing the amount of systemic opioids consumed: continuous intercostal blockade, paravertebral blockade, and epidural opioids and/or anesthetics. The combination of thoracic epidural opioid and local anesthetic is very effective at relieving postthoracotomy pain, however, considerable experience is required for insertion of the thoracic epidural catheter and postoperative respiratory monitoring. Intercostal and paravertebral catheters can be inserted intraoperatively under direct visualization, to reduce complications of insertion.

Asthma, allergy, and airway hyperresponsiveness are not linked to the beta(2)-adrenoceptor gene.

Study Objectives: To exclude genetic linkage between the beta(2)-adrenoceptor gene and asthma, allergy, and methacholine airway hyperresponsiveness.

Design: The current study used six distinct intragene markers within the beta(2)-adrenoceptor gene, and evaluated genetic linkage between the beta(2)-adrenoceptor and asthma, allergy, or methacholine airway hyperresponsiveness in eight multiplex families.

Patients: Forty-nine members of eight multiplex families with a high incidence of asthma.