Chronotropic incompetence on dobutamine stress echocardiography in candidates for a liver transplant.

Objectives: We evaluated dobutamine stress echocardiography as an initial screening test for a cardiac evaluation before a liver transplant.

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively examined 111 liver transplant candidates who had undergone previous cardiac evaluation; 30 of whom had undergone a liver transplant.

Results: Eighty patients (72.

Anesthetic considerations in candidates for lung volume reduction surgery.

The administration of anesthesia to patients undergoing lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS) requires a complete understanding of the pathophysiology of severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, the planned surgical procedure, and the anticipated postoperative course for this group of patients. Risk factors and associated morbidity and mortality are discussed within the context of patients with obstructive pulmonary disease in the National Emphysema Treatment Trial having surgical procedures. Preoperative evaluation and the anesthetic techniques used for patients undergoing LVRS are reviewed, as are monitoring requirements.

A surprising twist: an unusual failure of a keyed filling device specific for a volatile inhaled anesthetic.

We describe two cases in which keyed filling devices for sevoflurane were inadvertently screwed onto isoflurane bottles. The mishaps were possible because the collars on sevoflurane and isoflurane bottles are mirror images of each other. The particular keyed filling device was designed with a flexible outer sleeve and could be screwed onto the wrong bottle while slightly gouging its soft plastic collar.

Long-term effects of early social isolation in Macaca mulatta: changes in dopamine receptor function following apomorphine challenge.

The hypothesis that early social isolation results in long-term alterations in dopamine receptor sensitivity was tested using older adult rhesus monkeys. Isolated and control monkeys were challenged with apomorphine (0.1 and 0.

Effect of age on cisternal cerebrospinal fluid concentrations of monoamine metabolites in nonhuman primates.

There are conflicting reports of the effects of aging on human neurotransmitter systems as estimated by monoamine metabolite concentrations in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). These discrepancies may be due to sampling site, age or sex of the subjects or other variables that affect CSF metabolite determinations. Cisternal CSF concentrations of homovanillic acid (HVA), 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenyl-ethylene glycol (MHPG) and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA), major metabolites of dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin, respectively, were measured in rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) of two age groups.

Diazepam inhibits neurulation through its action on myosin-containing microfilaments in early chick embryos.

Diazepam (Valium/Roche) inhibited the morphogenesis of explanted stage 8 chick embryos in a dose-related manner. Diazepam, at concn of 400-500 micrograms/ml, preferentially inhibited closure of the neural tube. This inhibition was accompanied by a significant reduction in myosin content of the developing neuroepithelium.