Secondary Hemochromatosis Caused by Iron Overdose During Pregnancy and the Postpartum Period: A Case Report.

Iron deficiency anemia is the most common cause of anemia in pregnancy. Therefore, iron administration is recommended for treatment. Iron deficiency anemia during pregnancy does not always result in microcytic anemia.

Left Stellate Ganglion Blockade for Refractory Ventricular Arrhythmias With Aconitine Poisoning: A Case Report.

Aconitine poisoning causes refractory ventricular arrhythmias (VAs). In a 20-year-old man, VAs of unknown etiology did not respond to drugs and electrical defibrillation. However, left stellate ganglion blockade (SGB) dramatically decreased arrhythmias without complications.

Association between intraoperative hyperglycemia and postoperative end-organ dysfunctions after cardiac surgery: a retrospective observational study.

Purpose: Hyperglycemia has been associated with postoperative morbidity in patients who undergo cardiac surgery. However, it remains unclear whether the duration of hyperglycemia is as important as its magnitude in the development of postoperative end-organ dysfunction (PEOD). This retrospective study investigated the hypothesis that the intraoperative blood glucose (BG) exposure index (GE index), calculated by the product of the magnitude and duration of BG concentration ≥ 180 mg/dL, which is an integration of the severity and duration of hyperglycemia, is associated with the incidence of PEOD in patients undergoing cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass.

Celsior preserves cardiac mechano-energetics better than University of Wisconsin solution by preventing oxidative stress.

Objectives: Identity of the optimal heart preservation solution remains unknown. Because oxidative stress contributes to contractile failure in the ischaemic/reperfused myocardium and the main characteristic of Celsior is its antioxidant effect, it is important to elucidate the relationship between the inhibitory effect on oxidative stress and cardiac mechano-energetics. We therefore evaluated the efficacy of Celsior from both aspects by comparison with the University of Wisconsin solution (UWS).

[Intra-occular pressure during robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical prostectomy].

Background: Aeroperitoneum increases intra-occular pressure (IOP). We measured IOP during robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical prostectomy (RALP) that requires steeper Trenderenburg position.

Methods: Fourteen patients with no ocular diseases were candidates.

[Effectiveness of local cooling and lidocaine administration for prevention of pain upon injection of propofol].

Background: Propofol is commonly used for induction and maintenance of anesthesia, but pain at the site of intravenous injection is a clinical problem. We studied the effectiveness of local cooling and pretreatment with lidocaine for prevention of injection pain of propofol.

Methods: A total of 226 adult patients scheduled to receive general anesthesia were assigned randomly to four groups: a control group receiving no prophylactic intervention, a cooling group receiving topical cooling, a lidocaine group receiving 1 mg x kg(-1) lidocaine, and a lidocaine plus cooling group receiving topical cooling and 1 mg x kg(-1) lidocaine.

Energy for myocardial Ca2+ handling per beat increases with heart rate in excised cross-circulated canine heart.

Objective: Although tachycardia is well known to increase cardiac oxygen consumption (Vo2) per min, the relationship between Vo2 for excitation-contraction (E-C) coupling per beat and heart rate change over its full working range still remains controversial.

Methods: To elucidate this relationship, we varied heart rate over a reasonably wide range (60-180 beat/min) and studied the relationship between left ventricular (LV) Emax (load-independent contractility index), PVA (pressure-volume area)-independent Vo2, and basal metabolic Vo2 in nine excised, cross-circulated canine hearts.

Results: PVA-independent Vo2 per min significantly increased linearly with increasing heart rate while Emax remained unchanged.

[A case of intracranial subdural hematoma after thoracic epidural anesthesia].

Intracranial subdural hematoma (SDH) occurred in a 58-year-old female after laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy under general and thoracic epidural anesthesia. On postoperative day 2, she complained of headache in sitting position, but there were no remarkable neurological defect and nausea. On postoperative day 5, her headache subsided and she could walk by herself.

Effects of propofol on left ventricular mechanoenergetics in the excised cross-circulated canine heart.

Although propofol is commonly used for general anesthesia, its direct effects on left ventricular (LV) contractility and energetics remain unknown. Accordingly, we studied the effects of intracoronary propofol on excised cross-circulated canine hearts using the framework of the Emax (a contractility index)-PVA (systolic pressure-volume area, a measure of total mechanical energy)-V(O2) (myocardial oxygen consumption per beat) relationship. We obtained 1) the V(O2)-PVA relationship of isovolumic contractions with varied LV volumes at a constant Emax, 2) the V(O2)-PVA relationship with varied LV volumes at a constant intracoronary concentration of propofol, and 3) the V(O2)-PVA relationship under increased intracoronary concentrations of either propofol or CaCl(2) at a constant LV volume to assess the cardiac mechanoenergetic effects of propofol.

[Effectiveness of gum elastic bougie for tracheal intubation with Airtraq optical laryngoscope].

Background: Although Airtraq (ATQ) is well accepted as a useful device for tracheal intubation especially in cases of difficult airway management, we sometimes encounter difficulty in insertion of a tracheal tube along the blade of ATQ across the vocal cord in spite of ATQ assistance. Gum Elastic Bougie (GEB) is well known as a practical device for intubation assistance with Macintosh laryngoscope. We studied the efficacy of GEB for intubation with ATQ.

[Use of sugammadex in a patient with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis].

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a degenerative disease involving motor neurons. The anesthetic problem is increased susceptibility to non-depolarizing muscle relaxants and the feasibility of spinal and epidural anesthesia. An 86-year-old man with ALS underwent colostomy to the ileus.

[A case of caesarean section in a patient with myasthenia gravis: crisis was successfully avoided by preoperative plasmapheresis].

Myasthenia gravis (MG) is an autoimmune disease characterized by muscle weakness and fatigability. Women with MG have increased risk of pregnancy-related complications and an adverse pregnancy outcome. Maternal changes in pregnancy can also affect MG.

Celsior preserved cardiac mechanoenergetics better than popular solutions in canine hearts.

Background: Better protective effects of Celsior on cardiac function than the other conventional solutions have been reported in acute experiments and in clinical trials for at-risk patients. However, no study has yet precisely elucidated how these preservation solutions affect cardiac mechanoenergetics. Therefore, we evaluated the effects of St.

[Acute myocardial infarction due to coronary artery spasm after caesarean section].

We experienced acute myocardial infarction due to coronary artery spasm after caesarean section. A 41-year-old multigravida woman with no previous cardiac history or coronary risk factor developed acute myocardial infarction after caesarean section, and was successfully resuscitated with emergency percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty. Acute myocardial infarction during pregnancy and postpartum period is a rare event, but could be associated with high mortality if it occurs.

Exponential fitting of postextrasystolic potentiation may underestimate the cardiac Ca2+ recirculation fraction: a theoretical analysis.

The recirculation fraction of intramyocardial Ca(2+) (RF) has conventionally been obtained from the monotonic decay of postextrasystolic potentiation (PESP). The used assumption is that the decay is exponential. However, we have found that PESP usually decays in alternans even at spontaneous heart rates (>100 beats/min) in excised, cross-circulated canine heart preparations under normal coronary perfusion and normothermia.