[Air transport, aeronautic medicine, health].

There were 3.2 billion airline passengers in 2006, compared to only 30 million in 1950. Intercontinental health disparities create a risk of pandemics such as SARS and so-called bird flu.

[Anaesthetic preoperative assessment of chronic medications and herbal medicine use: a multicenter survey].

Objective: This study was undertaken to quantify the use of chronic medication and herbal remedies in the presurgical population.

Study Design: Prospective multicenter survey.

Patients And Methods: Adult patients presenting for anaesthesia were directly asked if they were currently using chronic medication or herbal remedies.

Recombinant activated factor VII efficacy and safety in a model of bleeding and thrombosis in hypothermic rabbits: a blind study.

Background: Recombinant activated factor VII (rFVIIa) is increasingly used to secure hemostasis in hemorrhagic situations in trauma and surgical patients. Hypothermia is often observed in these clinical settings.

Objective: To study the efficacy and safety of rFVIIa in hypothermia in a rabbit model of bleeding and thrombosis.

Differential diagnostic value of procalcitonin in surgical and medical patients with septic shock.

Objective: To assess whether different diagnostic and prognostic cutoff values of procalcitonin should be considered in surgical and in medical patients with septic shock.

Design: Prospective observational study.

Setting: Intensive care unit of the Avicenne teaching hospital, France.

Postoperative residual neuromuscular block: a survey of management.

Background: To avoid postoperative residual neuromuscular block there is a need for a change in clinician's attitude towards monitoring and reversal. This study aims to evaluate changes of perioperative neuromuscular block management during the last decade in our institution and to quantify the incidence of postoperative residual neuromuscular block.

Methods: Patients receiving intermediate-acting neuromuscular blocking agents for scheduled surgical procedures during 3-month periods in 1995 (n=435), 2000 (n=130), 2002 (n=101), and in 2004 (n=218) were prospectively and successively enrolled in our study.

Tracheal intubation in routine practice with and without muscular relaxation: an observational study.

Background And Objective: The ease of endotracheal intubation has been recently shown to affect the incidence of laryngeal injury. There remains controversy as to whether or not a muscle relaxant is routinely required for tracheal intubation. This study examined conditions of intubation in our routine practice, which employs a relaxant-sparing approach.

[Remifentanil-midazolam compared to sufentanil-midazolam for ICU long-term sedation].

Objective: Remifentanil has a unique metabolic pathway that holds potential benefits for long-term sedation. We compared remifentanil-midazolam to sufentanil-midazolam in 41 critically ill adults requiring mechanical ventilation.

Study Design: Randomized double-blind trial.

[Determination of early markers of a sanitary event. The example of the heat wave of August 2003 at the Samu 93-centre 15 in France].

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine, a posteriori, the parameters detecting an event in a French medical emergency dispatching centre (SAMU).

Methods: Six parameters were retained: total number of medical requests received by the Samu 93-centre 15: the number of decisions to send a mobile intensive care unit (MICU), number of decisions to send a non-medical unit, number of decisions to send a general practitioner and number of deaths observed by the physicians of the MICU. For each parameter, a daily referential was established over the five previous years (1998 to 2002) and compared with the results of August 2003

Results: The number of decisions to send a non-medical unit and the number of decisions to send a general practitioner were unchanged.

N-acetyl functions and acetate detected by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy of urine to detect renal dysfunction following aminoglycoside and/or glycopeptide antibiotic therapy.

Background/aims: N-acetylneuraminidine (NeuNAc), N-acetylglutamine (GIcNAc) and acetate are metabolites present in normal urine. In patients treated with aminoglycosides and/or glycopeptides, elevation of these metabolites in urine suggests renal tubular injury. NeuNAc, GIcNAc and acetate are easily detected by magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), in contrast to other bioanalytical methods.

Recombinant activated factor VII decreases bleeding without increasing arterial thrombosis in rabbits.

Purpose: To compare the effects of recombinant activated factor VII (rFVIIa) and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) in an experimental model of bleeding and arterial thrombosis.

Methods: The Folts model was used in 60 rabbits. After anesthesia, the carotid artery was exposed and a 75% stenosis was induced.

Diagnostic and prognostic value of procalcitonin in patients with septic shock.

Objective: To determine whether procalcitonin is a reliable diagnostic and prognostic marker in septic shock compared with nonseptic shock.

Design: Prospective controlled trial.

Setting: Intensive care unit of the Avicenne Teaching Hospital, Bobigny, France.

[Impact of the law of the 4 March 2002 relative to patients' rights on request for medical information received in a medical dispatching center and mobile intensive care unit (Samu 93)].

Introduction: Law of the 4 March 2002 allowed patient's access to his medical record. This law could increase the number of requests in medical dispatching centers and prehospital intensive care units.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of this law on the number of requests for medical information received in our unit.

Assessing residual neuromuscular blockade using acceleromyography can be deceptive in postoperative awake patients.

Unlabelled: Postoperative awake patients may have significant residual neuromuscular block. In awake patients, the results of accelerometry are affected by extra movements to which the thumb may be subject. In this study, we evaluated the repeatability of train-of-four (TOF) ratio using acceleromyography in 253 patients recovering from anesthesia.

[Direct and indirect effects of epoietin alpha in an experimental model of thrombosis and bleeding in the rabbit].

Objectives: To study direct and indirect effects of EPO on haemostasis.

Study Design: Experimental, randomised.

Animals: Forty-eight New Zealand rabbits.

[Organization of medical rescue during catastrophes with limited effects occurring in urban areas].

Objective: We conducted a survey regarding the organization of medical rescue during major events (catastrophes with limited effects) occurring in urban areas (Paris and immediate suburbs). The goal of this work was to study the availability of on site medical help and the real needs.Study design - Retrospective survey.

Aminoglycoside and glycopeptide renal toxicity in intensive care patients studied by proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy of urine.

Objective: Aminoglycoside and glycopeptide antibiotics are responsible for renal toxicity. In most cases, the nephrotoxicity is limited to a reversible tubular injury, but an acute and sustained renal failure may occur. The aim of our study was to explore the renal function of patients given these antimicrobial agents with proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy of urine.

Anaphylaxis to rocuronium.

Reports about anaphylactic and anaphylactoid reactions to rocuronium have increased recently. We report two new cases of documented grade III anaphylaxis, leading to death in one patient. The first case occurred in an 81-year-old ASA II woman scheduled for emergency abdominal surgery.

Complication profiles of adult asthmatics requiring paralysis during mechanical ventilation.

Objective: To assess the characteristics and the incidence of morbidity of intubated asthmatic patients who received long-term paralysis.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: Five intensive care units (ICUs) in Paris and the surrounding suburbs.

Randomized study comparing the "sniffing position" with simple head extension for laryngoscopic view in elective surgery patients.

Background: The "sniffing position" is recommended for optimization of glottic visualization under direct laryngoscopy. However, no study to date has confirmed its superiority over simple head extension. In a prospective, randomized study, the authors compared the sniffing position with simple head extension in orotracheal intubation.

Severe pulmonary embolism associated with air travel.

Background: Air travel is believed to be a risk factor for pulmonary embolism, but the relation between pulmonary embolism and distance flown has not been documented. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the duration of air travel is related to the risk of pulmonary embolism.

Methods: From November 1993 to December 2000, we systematically reviewed all cases of pulmonary embolism requiring medical care on arrival at France's busiest international airport.

[Patient's perspectives with regard to anesthesia services].

Purpose: Whereas patients most often select their surgeon, they don't usually select their anesthesiologist. Further, anesthesia frequently involves different physicians at different stages perioperatively. This inability to choose and the multiplicity of interveners may reduce patient satisfaction.

In-hospital and long-term prognosis of elderly patients requiring endotracheal intubation for life-threatening presentation of cardiogenic pulmonary edema.

Objective: We studied the in-hospital course, long-term prognosis, and functional status of elderly patients with life-threatening cardiogenic pulmonary edema requiring mechanical ventilation.

Design: Semiprospective evaluation.

Setting: Twelve intensive care units and one emergency prehospital medical department in university hospitals.

A survey of tracheal intubation difficulty in the operating room: a prospective observational study.

Background: The purpose of this study is to describe all degrees of endotracheal intubation difficulty among patients attended by eight anesthesiologists during routine surgery over a six-month period. Airway characteristics were routinely assessed preoperatively, according to the anesthesiologists' usual practice.

Methods: Difficult tracheal intubation was evaluated by the Intubation Difficulty Scale (IDS), a quantitative score based on seven variables.