Chest
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With increasing interest in reducing the cost of oxygen therapy, we recently designed an oxygen-conserving cannula. It reduces the oxygen supply flow necessary to achieve adequate oxygen saturation, but because it requires the use of a reservoir situated under the nose, some patients find it obtrusive. We therefore designed a similar system but displaced the reservoir away from the face and onto the anterior chest wall where it could be hidden from view by the patient's clothing. ⋯ The saturation achieved by the PNC at 0.5 L/min was equivalent to that achieved by the SNC at 1.8 L/min. We conclude that the PNC provides effective oxygen delivery to patients at supply flows substantially less than the SNC. The device is aesthetically acceptable to patients and its widespread use in patients requiring chronic oxygen therapy could bring about significant financial savings.
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Case Reports
Two-dimensional echocardiographic abnormalities of right atrial metastatic tumors in hepatoma.
We describe two patients suffering from hepatoma who presented with right atrial metastatic tumors as a result of invasion of the inferior vena cava and extension into the right atrium. Two-dimensional echocardiographic studies detected the right atrial tumor during life in both patients and the invasion of the inferior vena cava in one patient.
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Case Reports
Bronchial atresia associated with a bronchogenic cyst. Evidence of early appearance of atretic segments.
We report a case of congenital lobar emphysema in an adult due to bronchial atresia and presenting characteristically with a solitary pulmonary nodule due to a mucous plug. In the same patient the presence of a bronchogenic cyst leads to a hypothesis that the atretic segment is the result of an insult occurring during the 5th or 6th week of intrauterine life rather than one occurring after airway development is complete.