End-to-end ureteral anastomosis: a simple alternative to cutaneous ureterostomy in selected patients.

Unlabelled: End-to-end of terminal ureteral segments seems to be a good alternative to terminal cutaneous ureterostomy in very selected cases (patients with short life-expectancy or when it is impossible to utilize the bowel for urinary diversion).

Background: An end-to-end ureteral anastomosis (UA) drained by a single percutaneous nephrostomy is proposed as an alternative to permanent cutaneous ureterostomy.

Methods: In eight patients who underwent radical cystectomy, an end-to-end UA was realized.

The Color Doppler with contrast agent US in the study of post Cholecistectomy Syndrome.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the study of intra- and extra-biliary ducts by contrast-enhanced colour-Doppler in patients who have undergone laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

Materials And Methods: Contrast-enhanced colour-Doppler US was performed in 15 patients who had undegone laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The US contrast agent was introducted into the Kehr or Pedinelli tube to allow visualisation of the bile ducts and duodenum.

Factors associated with upper respiratory tract disease caused by feline herpesvirus, feline calicivirus, Chlamydophila felis and Bordetella bronchiseptica in cats: experience from 218 European catteries.

A full history of the management practices and the prevalence of upper respiratory tract disease (URTD) at 218 rescue shelters, breeding establishments and private households with five or more cats was recorded. Oropharyngeal and conjunctival swabs and blood samples were taken from 1748 cats. The prevalences of feline herpesvirus (FHV), feline calicivirus (FCV), Chlamydophila felis and Bordetella bronchiseptica were determined by PCR on swab samples.

Percutaneous translaryngeal versus surgical tracheostomy: A randomized trial with 1-yr double-blind follow-up.

Objective: To compare the outcomes and the short- and long-term complications of percutaneous translaryngeal tracheostomy (TLT) and surgical tracheostomy (ST).

Design: Prospective, randomized clinical trial with 1-yr double-blind follow-up.

Setting: A general intensive care unit of a university hospital.

Efficacy of the treatment of dogs with leishmaniosis with a combination of metronidazole and spiramycin.

Twenty-seven dogs infected naturally with Leishmania infantum were used in a randomised controlled trial to compare the clinical and parasitological efficacy of an oral treatment with a combination of metronidazole and spiramycin (13 dogs) with the efficacy of conventional treatment with meglumine antimonate and allopurinol (14 dogs) as controls. In the test group one dog had to be withdrawn from the treatment because it developed pemphigus foliaceus; 10 of the dogs were clinically responsive but none was cured parasitologically. In the control group four dogs were withdrawn from the treatment because of side effects; eight of the dogs were clinically responsive but none was cured parasitologically.

Online vs live methods for teaching difficult airway management to anesthesiology residents.

Objective: To compare the effectiveness of traditional and online teaching methods for educating anesthesiology residents in the principles and practice of difficult airway management.

Design: Prospective, randomized, controlled trial.

Setting: University hospital.

Comparison of two methods to assess blood CO2 equilibration curve in mechanically ventilated patients.

In order to compare two mathematical methods to assess the blood CO2 equilibration curve from a single blood gas analysis [Loeppky, J.A., Luft, U.

Carcinoma of the submandibular salivary glands with multiple metastases in a cat.

A 9-year-old neutered male domestic shorthair cat was presented because of coughing, dysphagia, and prostration. Examination revealed firm bilateral anterocervical swellings extensively adhered to the surrounding tissues. Anisocoria with left-side miosis was also evident.

Clinical review: Noninvasive ventilation in the clinical setting--experience from the past 10 years.

This brief review analyses the progress of noninvasive ventilation (NIV) over the last decade. NIV has gained the dignity of first line intervention for acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, assuring reduction of the intubation rate, rate of infection and mortality. Despite positive results, NIV still remains controversial as a treatment for acute hypoxemic respiratory failure, largely due to the different pathophysiology of hypoxemia.

Hypoalbuminaemia does not impair Diprifusor performance during sedation with propofol.

Background: About 98% of plasma propofol is bound to albumin. We investigated if severe hypoalbuminaemia may affect the accuracy of a target-controlled infusion (TCI) device, the Diprifusor, during sedation in critically ill patients.

Methods: Ten critically ill hypoalbuminaemic patients (<24 g litre(-1)) and 10 critically ill normoalbuminaemic patients (>32 g litre(-1)) were included in this study.

Functional evaluation of the urinary tract by color-Doppler ultrasonography (CDU) in 100 patients with renal colic.

Introduction And Objective: To evaluate if the addition of a renal color-Doppler ultrasonography (CDU) in the setting of acute renal colic improves the sensitivity of conventional sonography.

Materials And Methods: Between July 2002 and June 2003, 100 patients (median 49 years) with renal colic have been evaluated. Within 24 h of the admission, a CDU study of the urinary tract was performed using a sonograph GE Logiq 500 PRO with a multifrequency (3-5 MHz) convex probe.

A prospective, blinded evaluation of indexes proposed to predict weaning from mechanical ventilation.

Objective: To conduct a blinded evaluation of the predictors of weaning from mechanical ventilation.

Design: A prospective clinical study.

Setting: A 23-bed general intensive care unit.

Noninvasive positive pressure ventilation using a helmet in patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a feasibility study.

Background: Noninvasive positive pressure ventilation (NPPV) with a facemask (FM) is effective in patients with acute exacerbation of their chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Whether it is feasible to treat these patients with NPPV delivered by a helmet is not known.

Methods: Over a 4-month period, the authors studied 33 chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients with acute exacerbation who were admitted to four intensive care units and treated with helmet NPPV.

New advances in the use of noninvasive ventilation for acute hypoxaemic respiratory failure.

Noninvasive ventilation (NIV) includes various techniques for augmenting alveolar ventilation without an endotracheal airway. The theoretical advantages of this approach include avoiding the complications associated with endotracheal intubation, improving patient comfort, preserving airway defence mechanisms, speech and swallowing. The successful application of NIV in hypoxaemic acute respiratory failure (ARF) of varied etiologies has been extensively described but success rate is strictly dependent on ARF etiology and until today the application of NIV strategies in the setting of hypoxaemic ARF is controversial.

Effects of non-invasive ventilation on middle ear function in healthy volunteers.

Objectives: To evaluate the effects of non-invasive ventilation (NIV) with facial mask or helmet on middle ear (ME). DESIGN. Prospective, randomised study.

Ketamine increases human motor cortex excitability to transcranial magnetic stimulation.

Subanaesthetic doses of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) antagonist ketamine have been shown to determine a dual modulating effect on glutamatergic transmission in experimental animals, blocking NMDA receptor activity and enhancing non-NMDA transmission through an increase in the release of endogenous glutamate. Little is known about the effects of ketamine on the excitability of the human central nervous system. The effects of subanaesthetic, graded incremental doses of ketamine (0.

Role of desmopressin in the treatment of a case of septic shock refractory to catecholamines.

The authors describe a case of septic shock refractory to high-dose catecholamines after adequate volemic filling, rapidly corrected with the administration of desmopressin at a dose of 0.02 U/min. There are, in the literature, several cases of septic shock refractory to high-dose catecholamines successfully treated with arginine-vasopressin, a selective V1 agonist.

Fiberoptic bronchoscopy during noninvasive positive pressure ventilation delivered by helmet.

Objective: To evaluate the feasibility and safety of fiberoptic bronchoscopy (FOB) with bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) during noninvasive positive pressure ventilation (NPPV) delivered by helmet in patients with acute respiratory failure (ARF) and suspected pneumonia.

Design And Setting: Prospective, clinical investigation in a general intensive care unit (ICU) of a university hospital.

Patients And Participants: Four adult patients with ARF who underwent NPPV via the helmet and required fiberoptic BAL for suspected pneumonia.

A low-dose remifentanil infusion is well tolerated for sedation in mechanically ventilated, critically-ill patients.

Purpose: To study the analgesic and sedative effects of remifentanil in critically-ill patients.

Methods: Remifentanil infusion was started at 0.02 microg x kg(-1) x min(-1) in ten mechanically ventilated critically-ill patients, and the infusion rate was increased to 0.