Virginia Apgar (1909-1974): The Mother of Neonatal Resuscitation.

Dr. Virginia Apgar was an American anesthesiologist and researcher who heavily influenced the development of neonatal resuscitation in the immediate postpartum period with her simple five-point scoring system. Today, the APGAR scoring system is used around the world in delivery rooms to guide clinicians in the evaluation of newborns and to distinguish which might need urgent resuscitation.

Urgent Cesarean Section in a Patient on Venovenous Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation.

A G7P6 40-year-old female at 20 weeks gestation, with a history of polysubstance use disorder and hepatitis C, presented to the emergency department with severe shortness of breath and hypoxia requiring intubation. After a thorough workup, she was diagnosed with aspiration pneumonitis and was treated with a course of antibiotics. After progressing well, she was soon extubated and transferred to a subacute rehabilitation facility (SAR).

Anaesthetic management of a patient with severe pulmonary hypertension, moderate tricuspid regurgitation and moderate right ventricular dysfunction presenting for a dilation and curettage.

A primigravida woman in her 30s with severe pulmonary hypertension, tricuspid regurgitation and depressed right ventricular function presented for therapeutic termination of pregnancy at 7 weeks gestation after referral and multidisciplinary recommendation. A slowly titrated lumbar epidural was chosen for the primary anaesthetic. Under standard American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) monitoring, invasive blood pressure monitoring and continuous transthoracic echocardiography, the patient's right ventricular systolic function was monitored throughout the case using qualitative and quantitative metrics and was notable for a right ventricular systolic pressure of 102.

Anesthetic Management of an Obstetric Patient With Ehlers-Danlos and Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndromes.

A 31-year-old, primigravida, nullipara (G1P0) female with a past medical history of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS), newly diagnosed Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome (WPW), and fetal breech presentation initially presented at 36+5 weeks gestation for an external cephalic version (ECV). The patient noted significant symptomatology related to her WPW which had worsened over the course of her pregnancy despite being started on oral metoprolol. Despite joint recommendations from the anesthesia and obstetric teams to combine the ECV with a same-day scheduled induction of labor or cesarean section, the patient declined.

World-Class Innovation, but at What Cost? A Brief Examination of the American Healthcare System.

The American healthcare system, often counted among the world's best, offers expedient access to a highly subspecialized network of physicians who work at the forefront of developing and utilizing novel, cutting-edge procedures, and medications. Patients typically have access to large numbers of qualified physicians in every metropolitan area and thus are afforded the luxury of individual choice in hospital, physician, and experience. Unfortunately, the costs of maintaining such a system are quite profound, and the higher investments do not pay dividends in health outcomes.

Double Lumen Endobronchial Tube Placement for Lung Separation via a Tracheostomy Stoma in a Patient Status-Post Laryngectomy.

A 63-year-old male with a history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx status-post laryngectomy and tracheostomy presented for a robotic-assisted right upper lobectomy for neoplasm excision. On physical examination, he was noted to have moderate hypoxia with an SpOof 93% on room air. In order to facilitate potential apneic oxygen insufflation and continuous positive airway pressure in the operative lung, a traditional left-sided 35-French double-lumen endobronchial tube was placed through his tracheostomy, and utilized to facilitate lung separation and to improve surgical manipulation.

Profound Hyperkalemia and Anemia in a Dialysis Patient With a Gastrointestinal Bleed.

An 80-year-old male receiving dialysis three times per week presented to the emergency room with general malaise after missing four consecutive dialysis appointments. During his workup, he was noted to have a potassium of 9.1 mmol/L, hemoglobin of 4.

Severe hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with left ventricular outflow tract obstruction identified with preprocedural point-of-care ultrasound before emergent tracheal repair.

A woman in her 60s was brought to the operating room directly from the trauma bay for emergent intervention to repair a tracheal rupture sustained during a reported fall from standing height. She was intubated and sedated prior to arrival by paramedics for respiratory distress. Her family reported that the patient had dizziness after standing followed by the patient fainting and striking her neck.

Addition of nebulised lidocaine to prevent refractory bronchospasms in a patient receiving serial bronchoscopies.

A patient in his 20s with a history of granulomatosis with polyangiitis required 15 bronchoscopies with dilations in 1 year due to bronchial fibrosis and secretions leading to worsening shortness of breath. During these bronchoscopies, the patient experienced increasingly severe bronchospasms refractory to conventional preventative and treatment methodologies leading to prolonged hypoxia, reintubations and ICU admissions. During his 8th to 15th bronchoscopies, nebulised lidocaine was added to the pretreatment regimen, which eliminated perioperative bronchospasms and allowed for the elimination of all other adjunctive preventative treatments.