Anesthetic technic using profound hypothermia for correction of congenital heart defects in infants and small children.

Profound hypothermia can be a useful adjunct in the intraoperative management of infants and small children undergoing surgical correction of congenital heart defects. A case description of a 5 1/2-month-old male infant with total anomalous pulmonary venous drainage who had successful repair using surface cooling, cardiopulmonary bypass, and pump cooling to 20 C with intermittent periods of low systemic blood flow illustrates the technic. Discussed are the value of surface cooling before cooling on cardiopulmonary bypass, physiologic changes affecting the intraoperative and postoperative course, and the major risks and advantages of the technic.

Nitroglycerin infusion during coronary-artery surgery.

The effects of an intravenous infusion of nitroglycerin were studied in 20 acutely hypertensive patients during coronary-artery surgery. Eight patients had histories of essential hypertension and six had been treated for it. They were anesthetized with morphine, diazepam, N2O, O2, pancuronium, and enflurane.

The perioperative management of pericardial tamponade.

A case report of a patient with acute pericardial tamponade is presented. The etiology, pathophysiology, and management of cardiac tamponade is discussed. Preoperative management includes volume expansion, administration of catecholamines, and pericardiocentesis.

Contrasts in social structure among black-and-white colobus monkey groups.

Three types of Colobus guereza groups may be distinguished on the bases of size and composition, namely small one-male groups, large, one-male groups and multi-male groups. The social structure of each type of group is described in terms of the distribution of non-agonistic interactions, the frequency and distribution of agonistic behaviour and the organization of the roles of vigilance, territorial defence and leadership. A number of differences are found between the group types which appear to be related to the differences in group size and composition.

Successful use of a reduced dose of protamine after cardiopulmonary bypass.

The dose of protamine necessary to reverse heparin was examined in 60 patients. Half the patients (controls) received a reversal dose of protamine equal to the entire amount of heparin given them, while half received a reversal dose based on a heparin half-life of 2 hours. Postoperative chest drainage for the first 12 hours and for 48 hours was markedly reduced in patients given the reduced dose of protamine.

Propranolol and surgical anesthesia.

The potential danger of anesthetizing a patient on beta-adrenergic blockade therapy has long been recognized. The cases of 73 patients taking propranolol and anesthetized for non-cardiac operations were reviewed with regard to preoperative administration of propranolol and intraoperative and postoperative complications. Of these patients, 72 percent took propranolol to within 24 hours of operation and 85 percent took it to within 48 hours.

Radiologic signs of the 4p- (Wolf) syndrome.

The improved Giemsa-trypsin banding technique was used to differentiate the 4p- (Wolf) from the 5p- (cri du chat) syndrome. New radiographic findings of polydactyly, cervical ribs, and fusion defects of the elbows, ribs, and spine are presented in a girl with 4p- syndrome with 45 chromosomes and a B4/G22 translocation [45, XX, -4, -22, +t(4p22q)].

Propranolol and cardiac surgery: a problem for the anesthesiologist?

Propranolol therapy has been implicated as a cause of myocardial depression and increased morbidity and mortality in patients undergoing coronary artery surgery. The authors reviewed 169 consecutive patients undergoing cardiac surgery, of whom 143 had been taking propranolol, with regard to preoperative administration of propranolol and intraoperative or postoperative complications. Patients taking propranolol until 24 hours before surgery showed no increased incidence of hypotension or bradycardia before cardiopulmonary bypass.

Aggression and dominance in the weaver bird, Quelea quelea.

Previous work on agonistic behaviour in Quelea has been concerned primarily with hormonal variables. In the present series of experiments, a number of behavioural correlates of aggression and dominance are examined in male and bisexual groups. These include the effects of group arousal level on rates of agonistic encounters, the relationship between an individual's habitual level of activity and its relative dominance, aggressiveness and position on the perch in a resting "flock".

Chromosomal identification of eight species of the subgenus Edwardsellum near and including Simulium (Edwardsellum) damnosum Theobald (Deptera: Simuliidae).

Examinations of the banding pattern of polytene chromsomes from larval salivary glands of the population in west Africa once thought to be a single species, Simulium (Edwardsellum) damnosum, revealed eight species all within the Nile subgroup of the complex. The following names were proposed: S. (E.