Spontaneous haemothorax caused by a ruptured pulmonary arterio-venous malformation: A manifestation of hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia in pregnancy.

We report our experience of managing a massive haemothorax caused by a ruptured, previously unknown, pulmonary arteriovenous malformation (pAVM) at 34 + 5 weeks of gestation, which proved to be a manifestation of hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT), also known as Osler-Weber-Rendu syndrome. The patient underwent an emergency caesarean section under general anaesthesia after placement of a chest tube and gave birth to a healthy infant. A postoperative thoracic computed tomography angiography highlighted the presence of the large pAVM.

Active Expiration and the Measurement of Central Venous Pressure.

Purpose: To obtain a point prevalence estimate of alterations in central venous pressure (CVP) produced by active expiration in a consecutive series of intensive care patients.

Methods: We evaluated CVP tracings taken by the nurses at their morning shift change in a consecutive series of 60 cardiac surgery and 59 noncardiac surgery patients. We also assessed change in values due to the change in transducer level.

Volumetric capnography: lessons from the past and current clinical applications.

Dead space is an important component of ventilation-perfusion abnormalities. Measurement of dead space has diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic applications. In the intensive care unit (ICU) dead space measurement can be used to guide therapy for patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS); in the emergency department it can guide thrombolytic therapy for pulmonary embolism; in peri-operative patients it can indicate the success of recruitment maneuvers.