Recurrent pericarditis in a patient with Bardet-Biedl syndrome: A case report.

Bardet-Biedl syndrome is a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by rod-cone dystrophy, renal dysfunction, obesity, learning difficulties, hypogonadism, polydactyl, and many other minor features that can affect the cardiovascular, locomotive, neurological, and endocrine systems. We report the case of a 16-year-old boy affected by Bardet-Biedl syndrome who presented with recurrent pericarditis with an optimal response to treatment with Anakinra. To our knowledge, this is the first description of an association between Bardet-Biedl syndrome and recurrent pericarditis.

Effect of different doses of remifentanil on stress response during laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

Objectives: An adequate perioperative analgesia reduces neuroendocrine stress response and postoperative complica-tions. Opioids are the most effective parenteral drugs to control pain and stress response.

Design: This is a prospective randomized double-blinded controlled study.

Effect of remifentanil and fentanyl on postoperative cognitive function and cytokines level in elderly patients undergoing major abdominal surgery.

Purpose: Postoperative cognitive dysfunction is a frequent complication occurring in geriatric patients. Type of anesthesia and the patient's inflammatory response may contribute to postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD). In this prospective randomized double-blinded controlled study we hypothesized that intraoperative remifentanil may reduce immediate and early POCD compared to fentanyl and evaluated if there is a correlation between cognitive status and postoperative inflammatory cytokines level.

New drugs for epidural analgesia.

In recent years there has been a wide use of the epidural technique not only during surgery to provide anesthesia and analgesia, but also for obstetric and trauma as well as acute, chronic and cancer pain states. Nowadays there is an increase in the number of the epidural drugs. Local anesthetics and opioids are still the pharmacological agents more widely used epidurally, nevertheless other drugs from different pharmacological classes are administered as adjuvant to local anesthetics and opioids or are in various early stages of investigation.

Analgesia in thoracic surgery: review.

Post-thoracotomy pain is one of the most severe types of postoperative pain. It can last up to 2 months and can become chronic in 30% of patients. Pain relief after thoracic surgery is of particular significance, not only for ethical considerations but also for reduction of postoperative pulmonary and cardiac complications.

Ropivacaine vs. levobupivacaine combined with sufentanil for epidural analgesia after lung surgery.

Background And Objectives: There are no clinical studies that compare epidural infusion of ropivacaine and levobupivacaine in patients undergoing lung surgery. The aim of this prospective, randomized double-blind study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of two commercially available solutions of ropivacaine (0.2% w/v) and levobupivacaine (0.

Preoperative psychologic and demographic predictors of pain perception and tramadol consumption using intravenous patient-controlled analgesia.

Objectives: Postoperative pain is characterized by a wide variability of patients' pain perception and analgesic requirement. The study investigated the extent to which demographic and psychologic variables may influence postoperative pain intensity and tramadol consumption using patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) after cholecystectomy.

Methods: Eighty patients, aged 18 to 70 years, with an American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status I or II and a body mass index between 18.

Perioperative management of thymectomy.

Thymoma is the most frequent type of tumor in the anterior-superior mediastinum. The presentation of thymomas is variable; most are asymptomatic and others present themselves with local compression syndrome or parathymic syndrome; rarely thymomas appear as an acute emergency. Surgery is the treatment of choice for thymic tumors and complete resection is the most important prognostic factor.

Perioperative evaluation of myasthenia gravis.

Myasthenia gravis (MG) is the prototype of antibody mediated autoimmune disease and results from the production of autoantibodies against the acetylcholine receptor (AChR) of the neuromuscular synapse. Adequate preoperative evaluation of the myasthenic patient must be carried out carefully. Age, sex, onset and duration of the disease as well as the presence of thymoma may determine the response to thymectomy.

Epidural infusion of levobupivacaine and sufentanil following thoracotomy.

A prospective, randomised, double-blind study was conducted to compare the efficacy of two doses of levobupivacaine combined with sufentanil for continuous epidural infusion following thoractomy. A total of 72 patients undergoing lobectomy or pneumonectomy were enrolled. An epidural catheter was inserted between the levels of T4 and T6 before induction of anaesthesia and a loading dose of levobupivacaine and sufentanil was administered.

Dreams recall and auditory evoked potentials during propofol anaesthesia.

It is unclear whether shorter wave latencies of middle-latency-auditory-evoked-potentials may be associated to cognitive function other than nondeclarative memory. We investigated the presence of declarative, nondeclarative and dreaming memory in propofol-anaesthetized patients and any relationship to intraoperatively registered middle-latency-auditory-evoked-potentials. An audiotape containing one of two stories was presented to patients during anaesthesia.

Preoperative anesthetic evaluation and preparation in patients requiring esophageal surgery for cancer.

Esophagectomy for carcinoma of the esophagus is associated with significant mortality and morbidity. Patients with esophageal cancer have frequently obstruction with dysphagia and they often develop malnutrition. In addition, patients can suffer from chronic aspiration leading to a poor preoperative respiratory status.

Postoperative management of elective esophagectomy for cancer.

Postoperative management after elective esophagectomy for cancer has not been standardized. Thoracoabdominal incision with associated pain, extended operative time with consequent extracellular fluid shifts, single lung ventilation, potential for prolonged postoperative mechanical ventilation and comorbidities in patients with esophageal cancer, all contribute to high perioperative risk. Respiratory problems remain the major cause of both mortality and morbidity after esophagectomy for cancer.

Sedation in PACU: the role of propofol.

In critically ill patients, adequate sedation increases comfort, minimizes stress response and facilitates diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Propofol (2-, 6-diisopropylphenol) is an intravenous sedative-hypnotic agent popular for sedation in the Intensive Care Unit. The favorable propofol pharmacokinetic, characterized by a three compartment linear model, allows rapid onset and short duration of action.

Use of levobupivacaine for the treatment of postoperative pain after thoracotomies.

Continuous thoracic epidural analgesia with an opiod-local anaesthetic mixture is the most appropriate strategy to control postoperative pain in thoracic surgery. Levobupivacaine, the pure S(-) enantiomer of racemic bupivacaine, has less cardiotoxic and neurotoxic potential but similar anaesthetic properties of its native agent. There are no studies in thoracic surgery that had established the minimal efficient concentration of this anaesthetic when used with an epidural opioid.

Preoperative evaluation and risk factors in patients undergoing lung resection for cancer.

Surgical resection remains the mainstay of treatment in lung cancer patients. Stratification of preoperative risk should be based on the functional status of pulmonary and cardiac systems usually damaged by cigarette smoking. Preoperative pulmonary evaluation should be performed taking into consideration the specific characteristics of the single patient and the type of surgery planned.

Auditory evoked potentials.

Auditory evoked potentials (AEPs) are an electrical manifestation of the brain response to an auditory stimulus. Mid-latency auditory evoked potentials (MLAEPs) and the coherent frequency of the AEP are the most promising for monitoring depth of anaesthesia. MLAEPs show graded changes with increasing anaesthetic concentration over the clinical concentration range.

[Traumatic tricuspid insufficiency. Clinical and therapeutic aspects. Report of three cases (author's transl)].

Three cases of traumatic tricuspid insufficiency are reported. The most consistent clinical and noninvasive cardiovascular findings were: previous nonpenetrating thorax trauma; non holosystolic murmur which increased slightly during inspiration on standing; electrocardiographic patterns of right atrial enlargement and right bundle branch block; unusual bulge along the mid-left heart border, seen on chest x-ray examination suggesting ventricular aneurysm; striking right ventricular dilatation wit paradoxical movement of the ventricular septum on ECHO. Cardiac catheterization led to definitive diagnosis by demonstrating a massive tricuspid valve incompetence with "ventricularisation" of the right atrial pressure.

[Azygos or hemiazygos continuation of the inferior vena cava. An angiographic findings of 10 cases (author's transl)].

The angiographic findings of 10 cases with azygos (AC) or hemiazygos (HC) continuation of the inferior vena cava (IVC), associated with other congenital heart disease (0.5%), are described. Abdominal situs solitus was present in 7 cases, left isomerism in 3.

[Coronary arteriography. Review of 1000 consecutive personal cases].

One thousand coronary arteriography performed in the catheterization laboratory of the Department of Cardiology (University of Padua) from 1973 to 1978 were reviewed. Indication to perform a coronary arteriography was established in 668 patients with clinically suspected coronary artery disease and in 332 patients affected by different heart disease in whom the study of coronary arteries was judged to be usefull. The percutaneous technique was usually employed.

[Coronary spasm during coronary arteriography. Classification and interpretative criteria].

Coronary spasm during selective coronary angiography have multiple explanation. In some instances there is no true pathological implication (catether induced spasm), in other instances, instead, a clear relationship with "functional" angina and myocardial infarction exists. Moreover, in few occasions may only be a false positive radiologic image (apparent spasm).