Sequential hemofiltration in nonoliguric high capillary permeability pulmonary edema of severe sepsis: preliminary report.

Five patients with nonoliguric adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) secondary to severe sepsis showed improved blood oxygenation after up to 36 h of conventional therapy and mechanical ventilation with optimal positive end-expiratory pressure. However, metabolic acidosis was unchanged, and blood urea had increased. Some patients showed hemodynamic signs of incipient heart failure.

Freshwater near-drowning: our experience in life-supportive treatment.

Eight freshwater near-drowning victims were treated in the General Intensive Care Unit. The most prominent findings upon arrival were respiratory failure, hypoxemia and coma. Routine treatment, including mechanical ventilation and brain resuscitation, was initiated in all patients.

Combined use of HFPPV with low-rate ventilation in traumatic respiratory insufficiency.

Two patients with chest injuries, flail chest and respiratory failure were mechanically ventilated by a system composed of 2 Bennett respirators and an independent source of gas. This system provides high-frequency positive pressure ventilation (HFPPV), low-frequency conventional mechanical ventilation (LFCMV) and high inspiratory flow of fresh gas (HIF), through the independent source. This system made use of the advantages of HFPPV and also solved the problem of possible CO2 retention.

[Acute angle x-ray scattering by phospholipid membranes after treatment with valinomycin].

It has been found by means of small-angle X-ray analysis of oriented bilayers of synthetic dimyristoyl phosphatidyl choline that the introduction of valinomycin modifies their structure and these modifications depend on the phase state of lipid.

Modification of the conformational equilibria in the sodium and potassium dependent adenosinetriphosphatase with glutaraldehyde.

Glutaraldehyde treatment of electroplax membrane preparations of Na,K-ATPase leads to irreversible changes in the enzymic behavior of the protein, which are not due to modification of the active site. When the glutaraldehyde treatment is carried out in a medium containing K+ and without Na+, the "K+-modified enzyme" so produced shows the following changes in enzymic properties: The steady-state phosphorylation by ATP and the rate of ATP-ADP exchange are decreased to approximately 40% of control, while Na,K-ATPase activity decreases to approximately 15% of control. Phosphatase activity is decreased very little, but the potassium activation parameters of the reaction are changed, from K0.

The use of conventional ventilators for high frequency positive pressure ventilation.

Ten randomly selected patients were ventilated for defined periods with 2 ventilatory modes: (a) high frequency positive pressure ventilation (HFPPV) (frequency 66-70 min; tidal volume 1-3 ml/kg body weight), (b) conventional IPPV (frequency 16/min; tidal volume (VT) 10-15 ml/kg). This was done successfully using conventional ventilators, and keeping other variables (FIO2, PEEP) constant. Various ventilatory and hemodynamic variables were measured and compared during both modes of ventilation.

Synchronized intermittent mandatory insufflation of the endotracheal tube cuff.

Continuous inflation of endotracheal tube cuffs causes tracheal injury in up to 11% of intubated patients. To avoid this complication and its consequences of tracheal and laryngeal stenosis and tracheoesophageal fistula, we designed a simple device which enables intermittent inflation of the cuff during inspiratory periods of mechanical ventilation. This was achieved by connecting the inlet of the cuff of the pressure regulating tubing of the expiratory valve of a Bennett respirator.

Mechanical ventilation in fiberoptic-bronchoscopy: comparison between high frequency positive pressure ventilation and normal frequency positive pressure ventilation.

High frequency positive pressure ventilation (HFPPV) was compared with normal frequency positive pressure ventilation (NFPPV) during diagnostic fiberoptic-bronchoscopy. HFPPV was achieved by a simple modification of the Minivent, and gave satisfactory alveolar ventilation and oxygenation. In all 11 patients and over periods of at least 40 min, HFPPV gave normal PaCO2 and high levels of PAO2.

[Phase separation in dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine bilayers induced by ionophores and binary electrolytes].

Thermotropic behavior of unsonicated aqueous dispersion of dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine (DPPC) has been studied by scanning microcalorimetry and fluorescent probe method. Phase separation in the lipid bilayers was observed for systems containing ionophores (valinomycin, dinactin) and 1 : 1 electrolytes (NaCl, KCl, RbCl, CsCl). The ratio of lipid phases coexisting in the systems appeared to be dependent on the concentration of the electrolytes.

Adult respiratory distress syndrome treated with high-frequency positive pressure ventilation.

Adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a severe disease that carries a poor prognosis (50 to 60% mortality). Although modern ventilatory techniques, especially positive end-expiratory pressure ventilation, have reduced the mortality rate somewhat, they are still far from serving as the ideal solution to this grave condition. High-frequency positive pressure ventilation (HFPPV) is a relatively new technique that enables effective alveolar ventilation without creating high intrapulmonary pressures.

Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura with a subacute course: remission after steroids and high-dose plasma exchange.

A case of thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura with an unusual subacute course is described. Treatment was initiated after the patient had been ill for four weeks. Low-dose plasma exchange (10 ml/kg body weight per day) was associated with a sharp drop in the reticulocyte count and a transient reduction of lactate dehydrogenase activity to within the normal range.

[Change in the state of a lecithin molecular layer at the heptane-aqueous KCl solutions interface on the introduction of the ionophore, valinomycin].

The influence of ionophore--valinomycin on the organization of the lipid layer located between a heptane solution of lecithin and KCl water solutions of different concentrations has been shown by measurements of the interfacial tension. Specific changes in the interfacial tension found at high KCl concentrations are related to the transition of valinomycin into a form of its complex with K+-ion. A conclusion on the difference in the lipid layer organisation in the presence of the neutral ionophore and its charged complex has been made.

[Study of interaction between cation fluxes in gramicidin A-modified bilayer phospholipid membranes. Determination of the number of ion-binding sites and their position in the gramicidin channel].

Simultaneous studies were carried out of isotope and electric parameters of spheric bilayer membranes modified with gramicidin A and its analog O-pyromellithylgramicidin (PG) having three negative charges on the N-end of the molecule. The relationship between the electric coefficients of permeability and the isotope ones PG/P* = n was determined by two independent methods. It has been found that for the membranes modified with gramicidin A in RbCl concentrations from 2.

[Comparison of the electrical and isotope characteristics of ionic transport through bilateral phospholipid membranes].

Simultaneous measurements of electrochemical characteristics and tracer fluxes have been made using large spherical bilayer lipid membranes (1-2 cm2 area). The results obtained show the predominant contribution of electrically silent chloride molecules to the fluxes through unmodified membranes. In cases of valinomycin modified (valinomycin concentration=10(-7)M) membranes (in 0.