Dobutamine stress echocardiography in a patient with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome.

We describe the case of a patient with ventricular pre-excitation who underwent dobutamine stress echocardiography to evaluate atypical chest pain. The patient safely underwent the procedure with interesting electrocardiographic findings during pharmacological stress. The risks of dobutamine stress testing, along with possible explanations of this observed event, are discussed.

Short term performance evaluation of a perfluorocopolymer coated gas exchanger for arteriovenous CO2 removal.

A new perfluorocopolymer coating for micropore hollow fiber gas exchangers was developed to improve gas exchange, reduce plasma leakage, and reduce blood-surface interactions. The present authors evaluated gas exchanger performance using this new coating in a prospective, randomized, controlled, unblinded, large animal model of CO2 retention. Adult sheep (30-40 kg), under general anesthesia, underwent cannulation of the carotid artery (12 F) and jugular vein (14 F).