Feasibility of spray cryotherapy and balloon dilation for non-malignant strictures of the airway.

Objective: Benign airway strictures can be complex and challenging to manage. Although resection is preferred, this is not always feasible, and hence, endoscopic therapies are often performed. However, endoscopic therapies can be problematic, with granulation tissue and fibrosis leading to early failure.

Postoperative coagulopathy in a pediatric patient after exposure to bovine topical thrombin.

Severe postoperative coagulopathy developed in a child with congenital heart disease due to a factor V inhibitor from repetitive exposure to bovine topical thrombin. This case report alerts pediatric providers to consider these inhibitors when postoperative coagulopathy occurs. Potential treatment options are reviewed.

A role for interleukin-10 in the assessment of venous thromboembolism risk in injured patients.

Background: Management of patients with multiple trauma requires prophylaxis for venous thromboembolism (VTE). This involves recognition of the physiologic factors that are associated with VTE risk. Currently, there is no effective strategy for risk assessment.

Advanced age does not exclude lobectomy for non-small cell lung carcinoma.

Study Objectives: Localized non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) is best treated by complete surgical resection, commonly requiring lobectomy. The impact of lobectomy on the health status of the elderly patient is not well-characterized. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of lobectomy in elderly patients (> or = 70 years of age) and younger patients (< 70 years of age) on their pulmonary function and functional status 1 year following surgery.

Pericardiocentesis with extended catheter drainage: an effective therapy.

Background: The most effective method for managing pericardial effusions has yet to be identified. This study evaluates the efficacy and safety of echocardiographic-guided placement of indwelling catheters into the pericardial space.

Methods: This study consists of a 5-year retrospective chart review of consecutive patients coded with benign or malignant pericardial effusions who presented for drainage procedures to a single surgeon at a 260-bed hospital.

Ultrasound measurement of aortic diameters in rodent models of aneurysm disease.

Background: This investigation was undertaken to evaluate transabdominal ultrasound (US) measurements of aortic diameters in rats and mice as a complementary method to video microscopy (VM), the current standard for assessing the diameter of rodent aortas.

Methods: Aortic diameters were measured in 64 rats (n = 132 sets) and 12 mice (n = 36 sets) following experimental induction of aortic aneurysms. Diameters were measured at the renal vein, midinfrarenal aorta, and aortic bifurcation.

Pediatric splanchnic arterial occlusive disease: clinical relevance and operative treatment.

Objective: Splanchnic arterial occlusive disease is rare in childhood. The purpose of this study was to review the clinical relevance and operative treatment of these lesions in a unique experience from a single institution.

Methods: Seventeen children (11 boys and 6 girls) from 2 years to 17 years in age with critical narrowings of the celiac artery (CA) and superior mesenteric artery (SMA) underwent treatment at the University of Michigan from 1974 to 2000.

Nitric oxide inhibition increases aortic wall matrix metalloproteinase-9 expression.

Objective: Nitric oxide (NO) may mediate vessel wall remodeling by regulating expression of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs). This study tested the hypothesis that nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibition in whole aortic wall causes increases in cytokine-stimulated MMP and TIMP expression.

Methods: Cultured infrarenal aortic segments from Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to increasing concentrations (0, 0.