Correlation of bilirubin and toxic bile acids in critically ill patients with cholestatic liver dysfunction and adsorber application.

Bilirubin is one of the most frequently used laboratory values to monitor critically ill patients with cholestatic liver dysfunction. Besides bilirubin, toxic bile acids (TBAs), which may cause severe organ damage, are typically elevated. A correlation between both parameters seems plausible, but data are lacking.

Noninvasive Assessment of Arterial Pulse-Pressure Variation During General Anesthesia: Clinical Evaluation of a New High-Fidelity Upper Arm Cuff.

Objectives: To compare noninvasive pulse-pressure variation (PPV) measurements obtained from a new high-fidelity upper arm cuff using a hydraulic coupling technique to corresponding intraarterial PPV measurements.

Design: The authors used prospective multicenter comparison and development studies for the new high-fidelity upper arm cuff.

Setting: The study was performed in the departments of Anesthesiology at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München Hospital, the University Hospital of Bonn, and the RoMed Hospital in Rosenheim (all Germany).

Clinical Evaluation of a High-fidelity Upper Arm Cuff to Measure Arterial Blood Pressure during Noncardiac Surgery.

Background: In most patients having noncardiac surgery, blood pressure is measured with the oscillometric upper arm cuff method. Although the method is noninvasive and practical, it is known to overestimate intraarterial pressure in hypotension and to underestimate it in hypertension. A high-fidelity upper arm cuff incorporating a hydraulic sensor pad was recently developed.

CT Findings in Negative Pressure Pulmonary Edema.

Negative pressure pulmonary edema (NPPE) is a rare, potentially life-threatening, and yet diagnostically challenging perioperative complication. Most cases of NPPE occur in the context of anesthetic procedures, mainly caused by upper airway obstruction, and are diagnosed during the recovery period. We present a case of fulminant NPPE in a patient during general anesthesia which illustrates the eye-catching CT findings that can occur in NPPE and eventually support diagnosis.