[Atelectasis during general anaesthesia - mechanisms and importance].

In 1985, Dr. Göran Hedenstierna pioneered in the transition of atelectases during anaesthesia from a concept to a clinical entity, using computed tomography to detect "pulmonary densities". These densities were soon to be fully recognized as atelectasis.

Higher age and obesity limit atelectasis formation during anaesthesia: an analysis of computed tomography data in 243 subjects.

Background: General anaesthesia is increasingly common in elderly and obese patients. Greater age and body mass index (BMI) worsen gas exchange. We assessed whether this is related to increasing atelectasis during general anaesthesia.

Oxygenation Impairment during Anesthesia: Influence of Age and Body Weight.

What We Already Know About This Topic: During anesthesia oxygenation is impaired, especially in the elderly or obese, but the mechanisms are uncertain.

What This Article Tells Us That Is New: Pooled data were examined from 80 patients studied with multiple inert gas elimination technique and computed tomography. Oxygenation was impaired by anesthesia, more so with greater age or body mass index.

Pronounced elevation of resistin correlates with severity of disease in severe sepsis and septic shock.

Objective: Resistin induces insulin resistance in mice. In humans, recent data suggest that resistin functions as a proinflammatory cytokine. Here, we studied resistin up to 2 wks after admission in patients with septic shock and/or severe sepsis.

Persistent elevation of high mobility group box-1 protein (HMGB1) in patients with severe sepsis and septic shock.

Objective: To study the systemic release and kinetics of high mobility group box-1 protein (HMGB1) in relation to clinical features in a population of patients with severe sepsis or septic shock and to compare these with the kinetics of the cytokines interleukin-6, interleukin-8, interleukin-10, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha.

Design: Prospective study of two cohorts of patients.

Setting: Intensive care unit and infectious disease clinic at Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge.