Short-term spirometric changes in wildland firefighters.

Background: The short-term effects of smoke inhalation have been little studied in European wildland firefighters, especially in an intra-individual design. Our purpose is to study the spirometric changes from the early stage during a wildland fire season and to compare smokers and non-smokers.

Methods: A population of 108 firefighters from a Civil Security Unit, based in Corsica, was tested immediately after having been exposed to the smoke of coniferous trees.

DEFI 2005: a randomized controlled trial of the effect of automated external defibrillator cardiopulmonary resuscitation protocol on outcome from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

Background: Using automated external defibrillators (AEDs) that implement the Guidelines 2000 resuscitation protocol constrains administration of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to <50% of AED connection time. We tested a different AED protocol aimed at increasing the CPR administered to patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

Methods And Results: In a randomized controlled trial, patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest requiring defibrillation were treated with 1 of 2 AED protocols.

Comparison of lung injury after normal or small volume optimized resuscitation in a model of hemorrhagic shock.

Objective: To compare lung injury induced by a hemorrhagic shock resuscitated with normal saline or with small volumes of a hypertonic/hyperoncotic solution.

Design And Setting: Randomized, controlled, laboratory study in an animal research laboratory.

Subjects: Nineteen pigs (43 +/- 4 kg).

Severe imported malaria: clinical presentation at the time of hospital admission and outcome in 42 cases diagnosed from 1996 to 2002.

The objectives of this retrospective study were to describe initial clinical profiles and subsequent outcome of adult patients in France who were diagnosed with severe imported malaria, as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO). Forty-two patients diagnosed from 1996 to 2002 were included (median age: 30 years, men: 78%, non-immune persons: 74%, return from Africa: 100%, inappropriate antimalarial chemoprophylaxis: 95%). At the time of hospital admission, jaundice (62%), hyperparasitemia (56%), and prostration (52%) were the most frequent findings, followed by acute renal failure (31%).

Accuracy of the double indicator method for measurement of extravascular lung water depends on the type of acute lung injury.

Objective: The double indicator method is sensitive to alterations in the distribution of pulmonary blood flow. This distribution is influenced by the type of lung injury. The aim of this study was to compare measurements of lung water by the double indicator method with measurements obtained by gravimetry in a direct lung injury model induced by tracheal instillation of hydrochloric acid and in an indirect lung injury model induced by the intravenous injection of oleic acid.