Transition from pediatric to adult health services: the perioperative care perspective.

Increasing numbers of children with congenital and chronic diseases are surviving beyond adolescence. Consequently, arrangements must be put in place to ensure that these groups of patients continue to receive high-quality care into adulthood. Although some medical disciplines have reacted positively to this growing challenge, perioperative care has lagged behind.

Room air dilution of heliox given by facemask.

Objectives: To measure the extent of dilution of helium-oxygen (heliox) by room air when given via high concentration reservoir mask to spontaneously breathing subjects. Substantial dilution of heliox by room air under these circumstances might alter its physical properties sufficiently to negate any potential clinical benefit in obstructive respiratory failure.

Design: Healthy volunteers breathing different concentrations of helium in oxygen via two different masks in a randomised crossover design.