Gene therapy in heart and lung disease.

Purpose Of Review: Gene therapy utilizes viral and non-viral vectors to transfer genetic material into a host in the hope of treating disease. This article will review the potential applications of gene therapy in the treatment of cardiac and pulmonary diseases.

Recent Findings: The results from several phase I and II clinical trials have recently been published.

Pharmacokinetics of midazolam, propofol, and fentanyl transfer to human breast milk.

Background And Objectives: Lactating women undergoing operations requiring general anesthesia are advised to pump and discard their milk for 24 hours after the procedure. Data on anesthetic drug transfer into breast milk are limited. This study determined the pharmacokinetics of midazolam, propofol, and fentanyl transfer into milk to provide caregivers with data regarding the safety of breast milk after administration of these drugs.

Retrograde autologous priming of the cardiopulmonary bypass circuit: safety and impact on postoperative outcomes.

Objectives: Retrograde autologous priming (RAP) is a blood conservation technique used to limit the severity of hemodilution during cardiopulmonary bypass and reduce perioperative transfusions. The aim of this investigation was to examine the safety of RAP and to determine the effect of RAP on adverse outcomes after cardiac surgery.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Is the pulmonary artery catheter useful?

In the United States more than 1.5 million pulmonary artery catheters (PACs) are inserted each year. Of these, approximately 55% are placed in high-risk surgical and trauma patients.

Sedation, analgesia, and neuromuscular blockade in sepsis: an evidence-based review.

Objective: In 2003, critical care and infectious disease experts representing 11 international organizations developed management guidelines for sedation, analgesia, and neuromuscular blockade in sepsis that would be of practical use for the bedside clinician, under the auspices of the Surviving Sepsis Campaign, an international effort to increase awareness and improve outcome in severe sepsis.

Design: The process included a modified Delphi method, a consensus conference, several subsequent smaller meetings of subgroups and key individuals, teleconferences, and electronic-based discussion among subgroups and among the entire committee.

Methods: The modified Delphi methodology used for grading recommendations built on a 2001 publication sponsored by the International Sepsis Forum.

The failure of retrograde autologous priming of the cardiopulmonary bypass circuit to reduce blood use after cardiac surgical procedures.

Unlabelled: Hemodilution during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) is a primary risk factor for blood transfusion in cardiac surgical patients. Priming of the CPB circuit with the patients' own blood (retrograde autologous priming, RAP) is a technique used to limit hemodilution and reduce transfusion requirements. We designed this study to examine the impact of RAP on perioperative blood product use.

Declining proportion of publications by American authors in major anesthesiology journals.

A decline in the proportion of articles published by American authors in medical journals has been reported. We therefore sought to determine whether the contributions of authors from the United States to the three leading anesthesia journals changed between the years 1980 to 2000. The journals Pain, Anesthesiology, and Anesthesia & Analgesia were selected for evaluation on the basis of their respective impact factors.