Measuring Childbirth Outcomes Using Administrative and Birth Certificate Data.

Background: The number of pregnancy-related deaths and severe maternal complications continues to rise in the United States, and the quality of obstetrical care across U.S. hospitals is uneven.

Anesthetic Considerations for Patients Undergoing Bronchial Thermoplasty.

Bronchial thermoplasty (BT) is a novel, Food and Drug Administration-approved nondrug treatment for patients whose asthma remains uncontrolled despite traditional pharmacotherapy. BT involves application of controlled radiofrequency energy to reduce airway smooth muscle in large- and medium-sized airways. Although BT is often performed under general anesthesia, anesthetic management strategies for BT are poorly described.

Sudden Death in a Patient with Carney's Complex.

Carney's complex is a rare autosomal dominantly inherited multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome that involves spotty skin pigmentations, recurrent cardiac myxomas, endocrine hyperactivity, pituitary adenomas, peripheral nerve tumors, testicular tumors, and ovarian lesions. We present a case of sudden cardiac death in a 40 year old female with a history of Carney's complex with recurrent cardiac myxomas presenting for exploratory laparotomy and enblock adnexal resection of a slowly enlarging right sided ovarian mass. This case highlights the risk for sudden death in these patients as well as the preoperative assessment that should be undertaken by the anesthesiologist as it relates to Carney's complex.