[Pre-hospital management of adults with life-threatening emergencies].

In France, acute life-threatening situations are handled by the French Secours a Personne (assistance to persons) and emergency medical facilities. An unequivocal success, this early management of life-threatening emergency situations relies upon centralized call reception, medical dispatching, and immediate on-site emergency medical care. We describe the different emergency care providers and steps involved in the response to emergency situations.

[A 25-year study (1983-2008) of children's health outcomes after hyperbaric oxygen therapy for carbon monoxide poisoning in utero].

Carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning during pregnancy can be fatal for the fetus, or cause bone malformations or encephalopathy, depending on the stage of pregnancy at which the poisoning occurs. Fewer cases of death and encephalopathy have been reported since the adoption of maternal hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy in this setting, but these children's long-term psychomotor development and growth remains to be documented. A prospective single-center cohort study spanning 25 years (1983 - 2008) included all pregnant women living in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France who received HBO for CO poisoning and who gave birth to a living child.

[Carbon monoxide and the heart: unequivocal effects?].

Unlabelled: Carbon monoxide is the leading cause of fatal poisoning in many countries. At least two mechanisms of CO toxicity are currently recognized: carboxyhemoglobin formation and CO binding to haeme proteins such as mitochondrial cytochrome C oxidase and myoglobin. However, a growing body of evidence also suggests interference with NO pathways such as nitrosative stress and peroxynitrite formation.

[Oxygen and wound healing].

It has long been recognized that normal healing is dependent on the oxygen gradient in the wound Hypoxia can slow or arrest the healing process and augments the risk of infection. While hypoxia triggers neoangiogenesis, normal tissue oxygen pressures are mandatory for migration of repair cells (macrophages, fibroblasts), production of collagen precursors and, thus, for wound repair with good mechanical properties. Recent studies have identified the underlying molecular mechanisms of wound repair.

[Necrotizing soft tissue infections: role of the localization for the antibiotic management].

Necrotizing soft tissue infections (NSTI) are infrequent but life-threatening, and require prompt empirical antibiotic therapy. Current nosologic classifications have limited value because the criteria used are imprecise and their bacteriological specificity is uncertain. The aim of this study was to describe the bacterial flora and its antibiotic sensitivity in a cohort of patients with NSTI, and to derive guidelines for the choice of antimicrobial chemotherapy.

Small intestine intramucosal PCO(2) and microvascular blood flow during hypoxic and ischemic hypoxia.

Objective: To determine whether small intestine intramucosal PCO(2) and mucosal blood flow changes would be different between ischemic and hypoxic hypoxia.

Design: Randomized animal experiment.

Setting: Research laboratory.