Identical wave forms of vena cava and pulmonary artery during pulmonary artery catheter insertion due to kinking: a case report of a rare complication.

Background: We experienced a rare malposition of a pulmonary artery catheter due to kinking in a 63-year-old male who was scheduled for an off-pump coronary artery by-pass graft.

Findings: Given the difficulty to obtain stable pulmonary artery waveform, we discovered that the two waveforms of the distal and proximal ports of the pulmonary artery catheter were completely identical. Subsequent fluoroscopy revealed that because the catheter had formed a kink around the apex of the right ventricle, the distal port faced the proximal port of the catheter.

[Anesthetic management of a pneumothorax patient with complete situs inversus].

We experienced a case of pneumothorax in a patient with complete situs inversus. A 30-year-old man was scheduled for partial resection of the left lung under video assisted thoracic surgery. He had asymptomatic complete situs inversus.

Preoperative plasma brain natriuretic peptide level is an independent predictor of postoperative atrial fibrillation following off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery.

Purpose: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a frequent complication after coronary artery bypass surgery. Postoperative AF can lead to thromboembolic events, prolonged hospital stay, and increased costs. Recent reports have shown that an elevated plasma brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) level is associated with AF.

[Anesthetic management of an infant girl with cloverleaf syndrome].

We experienced anesthetic management of an infant girl with Cloverleaf syndrome complicated with prenatal diagnosis of craniosynostosis. She received posterior-cranioplasty and foramen magnum decompression at the age of 44 days, ventricuro-peritoneal shunting at 80 days and cranioplasty at 149 days all under general anesthesia without serious complications. In all three occasions, we induced general anesthesia with oxygen, sevoflurane, nitrous oxide and thiopental with a facemask.