No Proof Found of Anesthesia Involvement in Medical Misconduct During the Nazi Period. Investigation of the Alleged Purchase of 150 Inmates From Auschwitz Concentration Camp by Bayer to Test a New Narcotic.

A comprehensive investigation was undertaken to find evidence of the frequently reported, but never authenticated, "purchase of 150 inmates" from Auschwitz concentration camp by Bayer to test a new narcotic, resulting in the death of all investigated inmates. The archives of Auschwitz camp, Bayer, and the so-called former Soviet Union, where evidence of this alleged misconduct could have been saved, were investigated, but no evidence was found. Many records concerning concentration camp experiments on humans had been destroyed, but given the Nazis' meticulous record-keeping, the death of 150 inmates should have been recorded somewhere.

Preoperative risk factors of hemodynamic instability during laparoscopic adrenalectomy for pheochromocytoma.

Background: Adrenalectomy for pheochromocytoma is considered to be a challenging procedure because of the risk of hemodynamic instability (HI), which is poorly defined and unpredictable. The objective of this retrospective study from a prospectively maintained database was to determine the predictive factors for perioperative HI, which is defined as a morbidity-related variable, in patients undergoing unilateral laparoscopic adrenalectomy (LA) for pheochromocytoma.

Methods: A total of 149 patients with unilateral pheochromocytoma undergoing LA were included.

Assessment of haemostasis in patients with cirrhosis: Relevance of the ROTEM tests?: A prospective, cross-sectional study.

Background: In patients with cirrhosis, decreased rotational thromboelastometry (ROTEM) parameters suggest hypocoagulability secondary to liver dysfunction. However, observed normal or increased thrombin generation suggests preserved haemostasis and/or a procoagulant state. The correlated levels of both coagulation factors and inhibitors also support preserved haemostasis.

Adducted vocal cords relieved by neuromuscular blocking drug: a cause of impaired mechanical ventilation when using a laryngeal mask airway: two photographically documented cases.

Two cases of vocal cord closure, which was responsible for acute intraoperative impairment of mechanical ventilation in two patients with entropy-controlled depth of anesthesia, are reported. Administration of low-dose neuromuscular blocking drug was associated with immediate vocal cord relaxation and restoration of efficient mechanical ventilation.

Point of controversy: perioperative care of patients undergoing pheochromocytoma removal-time for a reappraisal?

Adrenalectomy for pheochromocytoma is reported with a mortality close to zero in recent studies. The dogma of preoperative fluid and hypotensive drug administrations is widely applied in patients scheduled for pheochromocytoma removal and is assumed to have a beneficial effect on operative outcomes. This paradigm is only based on historical studies of non-standardized practices and criteria for efficacy, with no control group.

Central sensory-motor deficit after uneventful single-dose spinal morphine administration in a patient with preexisting migraine headaches.

Hemiplegic migraine is a condition associated with vascular alteration of the central nervous system and transient neurologic deficits. Permanent morphine-induced motor dysfunction has been reported after spinal ischemia. We report a persisting central neurological deficit after single-dose spinal administration of 400 microg of morphine in a patient with no previous neurological condition.

Compatibility and stability of binary mixtures of acetaminophen, nefopam, ketoprofen and ketamine in infusion solutions.

Background And Objective: Administering various combinations of acetaminophen, ketoprofen, nefopam and ketamine, though sometimes discussed, is expected to provide superior pain relief and reduce opioid analgesic-related side effects. However, some studies have indicated that multimodal analgesia has limited efficacy. We studied the stability of various binary combinations of these four drugs.

Opioid-induced sedation in the postanesthesia care unit does not insure adequate pain relief: a case-control study.

Background: Sedation can occur during intravenous titration of morphine for acute pain control in the postanesthesia care unit (PACU). We designed this case-control study to evaluate the relationship between opioid-induced sedation in the PACU and adequacy of early postoperative analgesia.

Methods: Intravenous morphine was titrated in 2 mg (body weight < or =60 kg) or 3 mg (body weight >60 kg) boluses every 5 min to treat moderate-to-severe pain in the PACU.

Early postoperative tako-tsubo-like left ventricular dysfunction: transient left ventricular apical ballooning syndrome.

We diagnosed transient left ventricular apical wall motion abnormalities after surgery in a patient presenting with a clinical and electrocardiographic picture of acute myocardial infarction in the absence of significant coronary disease. These angiographic, clinical, and electrocardiographic features satisfied the criteria of the recently described tako-tsubo-like left ventricular dysfunction.

Persistent cauda equina syndrome with no identifiable facilitating condition after an uneventful single spinal administration of 0.5% hyperbaric bupivacaine.

We diagnosed cauda equina syndrome 15 h after uneventful single spinal administration of 0.5% hyperbaric bupivacaine 12.5 mg through a 27-gauge pencil-point type needle.

A review of aprotinin in orthotopic liver transplantation: can its harmful effects offset its beneficial effects?

Blood transfusion can adversely affect patient outcome and graft survival in orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). With this respect, prophylactic aprotinin administration decreases blood loss, transfusion requirements, and the hemodynamic changes associated with graft reperfusion in patients undergoing OLT. However, data indicate limiting the use of aprotinin in OLT: (a) clinical, biological, echocardiographic, and postmortem findings recorded in patients with chronic liver disease or undergoing OLT suggest that a continuous prothrombotic state exists in these patients.