Estimation of normal lung weight index in healthy female domestic pigs.

Introduction: Lung weight is an important study endpoint to assess lung edema in porcine experiments on acute respiratory distress syndrome and ventilatory induced lung injury. Evidence on the relationship between lung-body weight relationship is lacking in the literature. The aim of this work is to provide a reference equation between normal lung and body weight in female domestic piglets.

Does Iso-mechanical Power Lead to Iso-lung Damage?: An Experimental Study in a Porcine Model.

Background: Excessive tidal volume, respiratory rate, and positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) are all potential causes of ventilator-induced lung injury, and all contribute to a single variable: the mechanical power. The authors aimed to determine whether high tidal volume or high respiratory rate or high PEEP at iso-mechanical power produce similar or different ventilator-induced lung injury.

Methods: Three ventilatory strategies-high tidal volume (twice baseline functional residual capacity), high respiratory rate (40 bpm), and high PEEP (25 cm H2O)-were each applied at two levels of mechanical power (15 and 30 J/min) for 48 h in six groups of seven healthy female piglets (weight: 24.

Detecting Early Markers of Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia by Analysis of Exhaled Gas.

Objectives: The detection of microbial volatile organic compounds or host response markers in the exhaled gas could give an earlier diagnosis of ventilator-associated pneumonia. Gas chromatography-ion mobility spectrometry enables noninvasive, rapid, and sensitive analysis of exhaled gas. Using a rabbit model of ventilator-associated pneumonia we determined if gas chromatography-ion mobility spectrometry is able to detect 1) ventilator-associated pneumonia specific changes and 2) bacterial species-specific changes in the exhaled gas.

CD8-T Cells With Specificity for a Model Antigen in Cardiomyocytes Can Become Activated After Transverse Aortic Constriction but Do Not Accelerate Progression to Heart Failure.

Heart failure due to pressure overload is frequently associated with inflammation. In addition to inflammatory responses of the innate immune system, autoimmune reactions of the adaptive immune system appear to be triggered in subgroups of patients with heart failure as demonstrated by the presence of autoantibodies against myocardial antigens. Moreover, T cell-deficient and T cell-depleted mice have been reported to be protected from heart failure induced by transverse aortic constriction (TAC) and we have shown recently that CD4-helper T cells with specificity for an antigen in cardiomyocytes accelerate TAC-induced heart failure.

Positive End-expiratory Pressure and Mechanical Power.

Background: Positive end-expiratory pressure is usually considered protective against ventilation-induced lung injury by reducing atelectrauma and improving lung homogeneity. However, positive end-expiratory pressure, together with tidal volume, gas flow, and respiratory rate, contributes to the mechanical power required to ventilate the lung. This study aimed at investigating the effects of increasing mechanical power by selectively modifying its positive end-expiratory pressure component.

Extracorporeal CO2 Removal: The Minimally Invasive Approach, Theory, and Practice.

Objectives: Minimally invasive extracorporeal CO2 removal is an accepted supportive treatment in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients. Conversely, the potential of such technique in treating acute respiratory distress syndrome patients remains to be investigated. The aim of this study was: 1) to quantify membrane lung CO2 removal (VCO2ML) under different conditions and 2) to quantify the natural lung CO2 removal (VCO2NL) and to what extent mechanical ventilation can be reduced while maintaining total expired CO2 (VCO2tot = VCO2ML + VCO2NL) and arterial PCO2 constant.

Targeted endomyocardial biopsy guided by real-time cardiovascular magnetic resonance.

Background: Endomyocardial biopsies (EMB) are an important diagnostic tool for myocarditis and other infiltrative cardiac diseases. Routinely, biopsies are obtained under fluoroscopic guidance with a substantial radiation burden. Despite procedural success, there is a large sampling error caused by missing the affected myocardium.

Total intravenous anaesthesia using propofol and sufentanil allows controlled long-term ventilation in rabbits without neuromuscular blocking agents.

The aim of this study was to evaluate a total intravenous anaesthesia (TIVA) protocol using propofol and sufentanil without neuromuscular blocking agents (NBAs) for a non-recovery lung pathology study in rabbits including 10 h of pressure-controlled ventilation. TIVA was started with 20 mg/kg/h propofol and 0.5 µg/kg/h sufentanil.