Influence of in-office whitening gel pH on hydrogen peroxide diffusion through enamel and color changes in bovine teeth.

Purpose: To assess the influence of in-office whitening gel pH on whitening efficiency.

Methods: Hydrogen peroxide diffusion and color changes on bovine teeth were assessed. Three gels with close hydrogen peroxide concentrations but with various pH levels were tested: Zoom 2 (Discus Dental), Opalescence Endo and Opalescence Boost (Ultradent).

Do on- and off-pump coronary bypass surgery differently affect perioperative peripheral tissue metabolism?

Background: Microdialysis allows the in-vivo assessment of interstitial fluids. We studied the metabolic status of peripheral tissues (skeletal muscle) in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery on- (CABG) or off-pump (OPCAB).

Methods: Twenty patients candidates to elective coronary bypass surgery were randomly assigned to undergo CABG or OPCAB.

Severity of periodontal disease correlates to inflammatory systemic status and independently predicts the presence and angiographic extent of stable coronary artery disease.

Background: Periodontal disease (PD) has been recognized as a risk factor for systemic diseases, but its involvement in the pathogenesis of coronary artery disease (CAD) remains debated.

Objectives: We sought to evaluate the potential relations between severity of the PD, inflammatory response and angiographic lesions extent in patients with stable CAD.

Design: A total of 131 subjects referred to our centre for coronary angiography were evaluated for presence and extension of CAD, then divided into two groups, one with presence of lesions (cases, n = 85) and other one with absence of lesions (controls, n = 46).

Accidental ingestion and aspiration of root canal instruments and other dental foreign bodies in a French population.

Aim: To determine the incidence of aspiration and ingestion of endodontic instruments in France during root canal treatment without using rubber dam.

Methodology: Data was provided by two insurance companies representing 24,651 French general dentists over 11 years. The type and number of accidents per year, the number of dental items involved and the percentage of occurrence of either aspiration or ingestion were reported.

Cytotoxicity of Epiphany and Resilon with a root model.

Aim: To record the cytotoxicity of Resilon and Epiphany (Pentron clinical technologies, Wallingford, CT, USA) using a root model.

Methodology: Thirty teeth with single roots were sectioned at the enamel-cementum junction, the root canals prepared and each root then sterilized before filling with the lateral condensation technique using one of three filling materials (n = 10 per group): Resilon and Epiphany, Sealite (Septodont, Pierre Rolland, Merignac, France) and gutta-percha, Roekoseal Automix (Coltène/Whaledent, Langenau, Germany) and gutta-percha. The roots were stored at 37 degrees C in an incubator to allow for setting of the root filling materials.

[Care of handicapped children under general anesthesia in relation to different clinical parameters. Preliminary notes].

Losses of teeth are significant and frequent among handicapped patients. For this study a sample of 58 children handicapped out of the 412 children dealt with for preserving dental care under general anaesthesia, was analyzed. If at equal age these children present a CAD on permanent teeth more significant, their undertake, the procedure of general anaesthesia and the preserving treatments under general anaesthesia do not present more difficulties than the child is handicapped or not.

On the mechanism of levosimendan-induced dopamine release in the striatum of freely moving rats.

The Ca(2+) sensitizer levosimendan (LEV) improves myocardial contractility by enhancing the sensitivity of the contractile apparatus to Ca(2+). In addition, LEV promotes Ca(2+) entry through L-type channels in human cardiac myocytes. In this study, which was performed using microdialysis, infusion of LEV at 0.

[Care of handicapped children under general anaesthesia. Relationships with various clinical parameters. Preliminary notes].

Losses of teeth are significant and frequent among handicapped patients. For this study a sample of 58 children handicapped out of the 412 children dealt with for preserving dental care under general anaesthesia, was analyzed. If at equal age these children present a CAD on permanent teeth more significant, their undertake, the procedure of general anaesthesia and the preserving treatments under general anaesthesia do not present more difficulties than the child is handicapped or not.

Effects of sufentanil on the release and metabolism of dopamine and ascorbic acid and glutamate release in the striatum of freely moving rats.

The effects of either intraperitoneally (i.p.) or intrastriatally administered sufentanil on the release and metabolism of dopamine (DA) in the rat striatum were evaluated using in vivo microdialysis.

Application of the sequential organ failure assessment score to cardiac surgical patients.

Objective: To assess the applicability of the sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score to cardiac surgical patients.

Design: Observational cohort study.

Setting: Adult cardiac surgical ICU.

A computerized method to measure systolic pressure variation (SPV) in mechanically ventilated patients.

Introduction: Intrathoracic pressure variation during mechanical ventilation has different effects on cardiac preload and stroke volume in both ventricles. Changes in left ventricle stroke volume are reflected by fluctuations of the arterial pressure waveform or Systolic Pressure Variation (SPV). SPV has been proposed as a way to evaluate vascular volume status in mechanically ventilated patients as well as responsiveness of the left ventricle stroke volume to volume loading.

Oral functional characteristics and gastrointestinal pathology: an epidemiological approach.

One of the main problems for aged people is that of having a balanced diet, improved by correct conditioning of the alimentary bolus. Does the masticatory status influence the appearance of gastrointestinal disorders? Such a question justifies the present study. The present work concerned all the patients (211) of eight geriatric institutions, and was completed by a retrospective approach (case-control study).

Learning curve for translaryngeal tracheotomy in head and neck surgery.

Objectives: Translaryngeal tracheotomy (TLT) is a widely accepted procedure in intensive-care units for its simplicity of execution, low morbidity, rapid wound closure after cannula removal, good esthetic results, and lack of long-term sequelae. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and use of adopting TLT in patients with cancer undergoing major head and neck surgery.

Study Design: Prospective analysis of learning curve and incidence of complications in 41 patients with cancer who underwent TLT at the Division of Head and Neck Surgery of the European Institute of Oncology from November 1997 to June 1999.

Intrapericardial treatment of neoplastic pericardial effusions.

Pericardial effusion and cardiac tamponade are known complications of many advanced malignancies as lung cancer, breast cancer, lymphomas and leukemias. Initial relief can be easily obtained with percutaneous echo-guided pericardiocentesis, without significant mortality and morbidity and well-tolerated even in critically ill patients. Effusion recurrences can be observed, however, in up to 40% of cases if only simple pericardial drainage is performed.

[Intra- and extravascular volumes in congestive heart failure and their redistribution following extracorporeal ultrafiltration].

In advanced congestive heart failure with fluid retention, extracorporeal ultrafiltration (UF) causes persistent relief of edema or anasarca through hemodynamic and humoral changes that interrupt refractoriness to diuretics. The intra and extravascular fluid partition in congestive heart failure, as well as changes occurring in the two compartments following fluid withdrawal with UF, are unknown. In 8 congestive heart failure patients with severe fluid retention undergoing UF, we measured total (TBV), intrathoracic (ITBV) and pulmonary blood volumes (PBV), and extravascular lung water (EVLW).

Influences of aortic pressure gradient and ventricular septal thickness with systolic coronary flow in aortic valve stenosis.

This study evaluates flow patterns of the left anterior descending and circumflex coronary arteries by multiplane transesophageal echocardiography in 25 patients with aortic valve stenosis, and assesses the relation between coronary flow characteristics and anatomic and hemodynamic parameters.

Intraoperative phrenic nerve monitoring in cardiac surgery.

Background: Left hemidiaphragmatic paralysis due to phrenic nerve lesion is a frequent complication of hypothermic cardiopulmonary bypass. Although this is believed to be caused by cold injury to the phrenic nerve, its exact cause is still not clear.

Study Objective: To assess feasibility, safety, and usefulness of intraoperative phrenic nerve function monitoring.

[Circulatory support with Hemopump in cardiogenic shock secondary to papillary muscle rupture].

A 71-year-old woman submitted to multiple coronary artery bypass grafts suddenly developed in the third postoperatory day cardiogenic shock. Transesophageal echocardiography examination and color Doppler showed prolapse of the anterior mitral valve leaflet and detached anterolateral papillary muscle in the left atrial cavity with severe mitral valve regurgitation and increased left ventricular wall kynesis. Maximal inotropic and vasodilator support was not effective and a mechanical circulatory assistance was deemed necessary awaiting for mitral valve replacement not performed on emergency for unavailability of operatory rooms.

Coronary flow and left ventricular diastolic function in aortic regurgitation.

Background: An abnormal coronary perfusion pressure is probably the major determinant of altered myocardial perfusion in aortic regurgitation; ventricular hypertrophy and diastolic function may also be involved. This study was undertaken to investigate the respective roles of these two variables.

Methods: Using multiplane transesophageal echocardiography, we evaluated the coronary Doppler flow velocity in the proximal left anterior descending coronary artery in 15 patients with aortic regurgitation before and immediately after valve replacement.

[Transesophageal coronary flowmetry and ventricular diastolic properties in surgically treated aortic insufficiency].

In patients with aortic valve regurgitation anginal pain without coronary artery disease is a consequence of both impairment of coronary flow (CF) reserve and reduction of diastolic CF (D) due to a diminished coronary perfusion pressure (CPP). Aim of this study was to evaluate with transesophageal multiplane echocardiography CF pattern in 15 patients with severe aortic regurgitation (AR) in the operative room before and after aortic valve replacement and to correlate it with hemodynamic parameters of left ventricular systolic (echocardiographic fractional shortening area) and diastolic (Doppler E/A ratio of mitral flow and X/Y ratio of pulmonary venous flow; pulmonary wedge pressure) function. Patients were compared to a control group (C) of 10 subjects.

Preoperative management and surgical therapy in complicated acute infective endocarditis: a 5-year experience.

Twenty-five patients underwent early and elective valve replacement for infective endocarditis during a 5-year period between April 1985 and March 1991. Indications for urgent surgical intervention performed at a mean 32 (range 6-47) days after admission were intractable heart failure, systemic emboli, septic multiorgan failure and the presence of vegetations. Indication for elective surgery was persistent (mean 42 (range 17-56) days) infection after appropriate antibiotic therapy.