Inflammatory potential of cotton-based surgically invasive devices: Implications for cardiac surgery.

Cotton-based surgical invasive devices with their desired hemostyptic properties have been used for decades in the surgical field. However, in cardiac surgery using the heart-lung machine with direct retransfusion of suction blood, activated blood may re-enter the circulation without filtration and may trigger a cascade reaction leading to systemic inflammation and thrombosis. We therefore set out to evaluate the inflammatory potential of untreated and pyrogen-impregnated cotton-based surgical invasive medical devices.

More than 70 years of pyrogen detection: Current state and future perspectives.

In the quality assurance of medical products, tests for sterility are essential. For parenteral pharmaceuticals, avoiding the presence of pyrogens is crucial. These fever-inducing substances (endotoxins and non-endotoxins) are not eliminated by standard sterilisation processes, and are biologically active once in the bloodstream, causing risks to human health, ranging from mild reactions (e.

The effects of heart rate variability biofeedback in patients with preterm labour.

Preterm birth is a highly prevalent phenomenon that was shown to be associated with mental stress during pregnancy (Rich-Edwards and Grizzard in Am J Obstet Gynecol 192(5 Suppl):S30-S35, 2005). We aimed to assess the effects of heart rate variability (HRV)-biofeedback in patients with preterm labour. Therefore, we conducted a controlled randomized parallel group study in 48 female patients aged 19-38 years (median = 29) with preterm labour at gestational week 24th-32nd (median = 29th).

Effects of low and high protein:carbohydrate ratios in the diet of pregnant gilts on maternal cortisol concentrations and the adrenocortical and sympathoadrenal reactivity in their offspring.

Inadequate maternal nutrition during gestation may cause an adverse environment for the fetus leading to alterations of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) and sympatho-adrenomedullary (SAM) systems later in life. In the present study, we investigated the effects of diets with low and high protein:carbohydrate ratios on cortisol concentrations of pregnant gilts as well as the long-term effects on the function of the HPA and SAM axes in their offspring. Throughout gestation, 33 German Landrace gilts were fed high (HP, 30%), low (LP, 6.