Comparison of lung deposition in two types of nebulization: intrapulmonary percussive ventilation vs jet nebulization.

Background: So-called intrapulmonary percussive ventilation (IPV), frequently coupled with a nebulizer, is increasingly used as a physiotherapy technique; however, its physiologic and clinical values have not been rigorously assessed.

Study Objective: To compare in vitro and in vivo characteristics of the nebulizer of the IPV device (Percussionaire; Percussionaire Corporation; Sandpoint, ID) with those of standard jet nebulization (SST) [SideStream; Medic-Aid; West Sussex, UK].

Design: Aerodynamic particle size was studied by an cascade impactor.

Diagnosis of acute pulmonary embolism in outpatients: comparison of thin-collimation multi-detector row spiral CT and planar ventilation-perfusion scintigraphy.

Purpose: To compare multi-detector row computed tomography (CT) and ventilation-perfusion (V-P) scintigraphy in the diagnosis of acute pulmonary embolism (PE) in outpatients who were cared for in the emergency department.

Materials And Methods: Ninety-four nonconsecutive patients, in whom acute PE was suspected, underwent thin-collimation multi-detector row CT (collimation, 4 x 1 mm; pitch, 1.25; scanning time, 0.

Assessment of hepatic perfusion parameters with dynamic MRI.

Quantification of hepatic perfusion parameters greatly contributes to the assessment of liver function. The purpose of this study was to describe and validate the use of dynamic MRI for the noninvasive assessment of hepatic perfusion parameters. The signal from a fast T(1)-weighted spoiled gradient-echo sequence preceded by a nonslice-selective 90 degrees pulse and a spoiler gradient was calibrated in vitro with tubes filled with various gadolinium concentrations.

Non-invasive quantification of liver perfusion with dynamic computed tomography and a dual-input one-compartmental model.

Various liver diseases lead to significant alterations of the hepatic microcirculation. Therefore, quantification of hepatic perfusion has the potential to improve the assessment and management of liver diseases. Most methods used to quantify liver perfusion are invasive or controversial.

MR-monitored remitting-relapsing pattern of cortical involvement in Rasmussen syndrome: comparative evaluation of serial MR and PET/SPECT features.

We report the serial MR and PET/SPECT findings in a 2 1/2-year-old boy presenting with Rasmussen syndrome and highlight the close qualitative correlations between the results of the imaging modality and the functional isotopic techniques. The latter demonstrated a wider field of extension of the disease process. Routine MRI demonstrated its ability to detect brain changes matching the more sensitive PET and SPECT data and correlated well with the clinical evolution.

Late effects of X irradiation on regulation of cerebral blood flow after whole-brain exposure in rats.

Hemodynamic parameters such as total cerebral blood volume (total CBV), cerebral parenchymal blood volume (CBV), cerebral blood flow (CBF) and cerebral blood velocity index were measured in rats 6, 12 and 18 months after single exposures of brain to 5, 10, 15 and 20 Gy X rays for total CBV, CBF and blood velocity index, and only 20 Gy for CBV. Total CBV and blood velocity index were determined by a noninvasive blood dilution method using [99mTc]pertechnetate and CBF by [131I]iodoantipyrine brain extraction. The CBV was obtained from both parenchymal plasma and erythrocyte volumes measured in isolated brain by 125I-labeled serum albumin and 51Cr-labeled erythrocytes, respectively.

Potentiation of radiotherapy by nontoxic pretreatment with combined vitamins C and K3 in mice bearing solid transplantable tumor.

Background: The effect of intraperitoneal and oral pretreatment with combined vitamins C and K3 on the single dose radiotherapy of a transplantable solid mouse tumor have been investigated.

Materials And Methods: Groups of mice bearing intramuscularly transplanted liver tumors, were orally and parenterally pretreated with combined vitamins C and K3 and locally irradiated with single doses of 20, 30, or 40 Gy of X-rays. After this treatment tumor dimensions were measured twice weekly and the approximate tumor volume in groups of pretreated vitamins and irradiated mice was compared to the groups of mice only irradiated and to the absolute control groups without any therapy.

Induced response to hypercapnia in the two-compartment total cerebral blood volume: influence on brain vascular reserve and flow efficiency.

This study was undertaken to investigate the mechanisms of CBF increase as induced by hypercapnia. It was achieved in anesthetized rats by determining total cerebral blood volume (TCBV), parenchymal blood (CBV), plasma (CPV), erythrocyte (CEV) volumes and cerebral hematocrit (CHct) as well as CBF at about 40, 60, and 80 mm Hg PaCO2. TCBV was measured by a noninvasive blood dilution method using [99mTc]pertechnetate.

Validation of automated brain contour determination in normal and abnormal cerebral single-photon emission tomography.

A contour detection algorithm for cerebral studies, using the method of Tomitani, has been implemented on a single-photon emission tomographic (SPET) system. It is based on the detetion by threshold of the brain edge in the sinogram and does not depend on the reconstruction algorithm. Thirteen normal subjects underwent an examination on both computed tomography (CT) and SPET using a head holder to ensure the reproducibility of the positioning.

Single breath diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide in stable asthma.

Background: Single breath diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide (Dco) is commonly used as a simple method of assessing overall pulmonary gas exchange properties. Studies of Dco in bronchial asthma have yielded conflicting results.

Objective: To study Dco and to determine the factors influencing Dco in patients with asthma.

Technetium-99m-pertechnetate as a whole blood marker for brain perfusion studies.

Unlabelled: In the brain, diffusible 99mTc-pertechnetate behaves as an intravascular indicator because it is confined within the circulation by the blood-brain barrier, allowing its use for noninvasive dynamic evaluation of cerebral circulation. For this application 99mTc has often been claimed to be a plasma marker. This study examines the validity of such a claim which has not yet been proven in vivo.

Effects of endothelin-1 at pathophysiologic concentrations on coronary perfusion and mechanical function of normal and postischemic myocardium.

We assess hemodynamic, vascular, and hormonal effects of endothelin-1 (ET-1) at pathophysiologic levels on normal and ischemic myocardium. Thirty conscious chronically instrumented dogs were studied before, during, and after a 10-min coronary artery occlusion (CAO) performed either during ET-1 infusion (2.5 ng/kg.

Total cerebral blood volume calculated from a model of [99mTc]pertechnetate distribution in the head.

A method for calculation of the blood volume from the internal carotid and vertebral arteries to the internal jugular veins [total cerebral blood volume (TCBV)] was validated. This was achieved noninvasively in anesthetized rats from the time-activity curve recorded over the head after [99mTc]pertechnetate (Tc) intravenous bolus injection. Tc had the advantage over many other tracers in that it rapidly and evenly distributed in blood cells and plasma.

Alterations in endocardial vascular resistance after reperfusion in a low flow, high demand model of ischemia: effects of dipyridamole and WEB-2086, a platelet-activating factor antagonist.

To determine if alterations in regional coronary vascular resistance could occur in the type of myocardial ischemia present in severe angina pectoris, regional perfusion and function were studied in 35 conscious sedated dogs. A stenosis producing severe hypokinesia of the perfused segment was created for 2 h on the left anterior descending coronary artery and 10 episodes of 1 min of high demand ischemia (atrial pacing at a rate sufficient to induce dyskinesia in the hypoperfused segment) were superimposed before reperfusion. The dogs were randomized into three treatment groups: control (n = 13), dipyridamole (n = 10) or WEB-2086 (n = 12), an antagonist of the effects of the endogenous platelet-activating factor.

Accumulation of polymorphonuclear leukocytes in reperfused ischemic canine myocardium: relation with tissue viability assessed by fluorine-18-2-deoxyglucose uptake.

Polymorphonuclear leukocytes may participate in reperfusion injury. Whether leukocytes affect viable or only irreversibly injured tissue is not known. Therefore, we assessed the accumulation of 111In-labeled leukocytes in tissue samples characterized as either ischemic but viable or necrotic by metabolic, histochemical, and ultrastructural criteria.

Assessment of thallium-201 redistribution versus glucose uptake as predictors of viability after coronary occlusion and reperfusion.

Both 201Tl redistribution and persistent glucose uptake have been proposed as markers of viability after reperfusion. In the present study, they have been compared in the same open-chest canine preparation of occlusion and reperfusion. Ten fasting dogs were subjected to 2 hr of left anterior descending coronary artery occlusion and 4 hr of reperfusion.

Resting and hypercapnic rCBF in patients with unilateral occlusive disease of the internal carotid artery.

Regional cerebral blood flow was measured by the 133Xe inhalation technique in 15 patients with severe unilateral internal carotid artery stenosis (75%) or occlusion, and in the absence of evidence of any sign of occlusive disease in other main afferent cerebral arteries. A comparison with normal subjects showed that lowered resting flow in both hemispheres was a common finding in all patients. Interhemispheric asymmetry was present only in patients with occlusion and the precentral, posterior temporal, and occipital regions were the most seriously affected.

Effects of atriopeptin III on renal function, regional blood flows and left ventricular function in conscious dogs in presence or absence of hypovolaemia.

The effects of atriopeptin III (AP III) on the left ventricular and renal functions were studied in thirteen chronically instrumented conscious dogs and compared to those of the solvent (saline). In the normovolaemic state, an AP III infusion (1 microgram kg-1 min-1 i.v.

[Long-term course of the cerebral circulatory function after brain irradiation in rats].

Long-term evolution of radioisotope indices, evaluating respectively the cerebral blood flow (CBF), the cerebral blood volume (CBV) and the cephalic specific distribution space of iodoantipyrine (delta IAP) of rat, was studied after brain irradiation at 20 Gy. Radioinduced hemodynamic alterations evidenced by this approach are biphasic and support the prominent role of circulation impairment in the genesis of delayed brain radionecrosis.

Early behaviour of 99mTc-pertechnetate in the head after intravenous bolus injection: its relevance to the cerebral blood circulation.

The relative differences between the behavior of 99mTc-pertechnetate (Tc) and both, non-diffusible and diffusible reference tracers in the head were evaluated by a statistical comparison of their time-activity curves in blood, brain and some tissues underlying the brain, after IV injection in the rat. This study showed that the particular cephalic behaviour of Tc was neither similar to that of diffusible tracers (even with restricted diffusion) nor equivalent to that of a non-diffusible tracer in the whole head. Although Tc is not an intravascular tracer in the entire cephalic volume, it was demonstrated that the initial peak characterizing the dilution of this tracer in the head is exclusively generated by its first passage in the cerebral circulation, even if the blood flow rate is changed.

Late modifications of cephalic circulation in head x-irradiated rats.

A non-invasive and quantitative radioisotope method was applied to the assessment of late cephalic circulatory changes occurring 12 and 21 months after head irradiation at 500, 1000 or 1500 R in rats of two inbred strains. Analysis of the results concerning the tracer circulatory mean transit-time (t) as well as those of two indices measuring respectively the cephalic blood volume (VH) and the cephalic blood flow (FH), led us to conclude that: -- the radiation-induced late changes in cephalic circulation are more relevant to a reduction of the volume of blood flowing in the head than to a reduction of its rate -- even a dose as low as 500 R induces such a late effect but the delay is longer than one year -- a depression of the cardiac output can be an additional very late consequence of head irradiation -- there is an influence of the rat strain on the temporal development of the late cephalic circulatory changes.