Ultrasound artifacts mimicking pleural sliding after pneumonectomy.

Study Objective: To determine the presence of pleural sliding on chest ultrasonography (US) in a series of patients admitted to a surgical intensive care unit (SICU).

Design: Prospective, observational study.

Setting: 16-bed SICU of a University hospital.

Sonographic assessment of abdominal vein dimensional and hemodynamic changes induced in human volunteers by a model of abdominal hypertension.

Objective: In patients affected by intra-abdominal hypertension, bladder or gastric pressure measurement may be usefully integrated by ultrasounds in order to detect early hemodynamic impairment. The purpose of this study was to search for changes in abdominal vein size and flow induced by intra-abdominal hypertension.

Design: Physiologic study.

The comprehensive medical preparedness in chemical emergencies: 'the chain of chemical survival'.

Medical management of victims of chemical incidents includes supportive therapy, decontamination and antidote administration. Chemical weapons of mass destruction are available to many countries and are a possible alternative to conventional weapons for terrorist groups. During the last 5 years, some Italian institutions have made big efforts to establish a national system of antidote stockpiling and distribution.

[A relational database to store Poison Centers calls].

Italian Poison Centers answer to approximately 100,000 calls per year. Potentially, this activity is a huge source of data for toxicovigilance and for syndromic surveillance. During the last decade, surveillance systems for early detection of outbreaks have drawn the attention of public health institutions due to the threat of terrorism and high-profile disease outbreaks.