Cardiac arrhythmias: drugs and devices.

This review focuses on the important role played by the various types of remedial therapy in the prevention and treatment of perioperative cardiac arrhythmias. It discusses the new concepts of arrhythmogenesis and pro-arrhythmia; the long QT interval syndrome; newer, more selective class 3 antiarrhythmic drugs; cardiac rhythm management devices; drugs or devices used as prophylaxis for postoperative atrial arrhythmias; intravenous amiodarone for destabilizing ventricular arrhythmias; and preoperative potassium imbalance.

Operational sustainability metrics assessing metric effectiveness in the context of electronics-recycling systems.

In the past 15 years corporations and governments have developed a growing appreciation of the need for sustainability. However, there is still little clarity on how to move toward the goal of sustainability or measure improvements. Not only are there currently few operational metrics by which to practically assess progress toward sustainability, there is also little understanding of how to judge the effectiveness of such metrics.

Comparison of a prototype esophageal oximetry probe with two conventional digital pulse oximetry monitors in aortocoronary bypass patients.

Objective: Pulse oximetry (SpO2) is the non-invasive standard for monitoring arterial oxygen saturation in patients undergoing anesthesia, but is subject to external interference by motion artifact, peripheral vasoconstriction, and low cardiac output. We hypothesized that oximetry signals could be acquired from the esophagus when peripheral pulse oximetry is unobtainable. Therefore, we tested an esophageal stethoscope which incorporates transverse oximetry photodetectors and emitters in patients undergoing coronary bypass surgery.