Chest
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Review Case Reports
Early congestive heart failure due to origin of the right coronary artery from the pulmonary artery.
We describe a two-month-old infant with early congestive heart failure due to anomalous origin of the right coronary artery from the pulmonary artery. The diagnosis was made by two-dimensional and color flow Doppler echocardiography, confirmed by angiocardiography, and the case was successfully corrected at surgery. As opposed to the more frequent anomalous origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary trunk, this anomaly generally does not cause any typical clinical finding, often becoming an autoptic or surgical surprise after infancy or in adult age.
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Comment Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Pulse oximetry in the postoperative care of cardiac surgical patients. A randomized controlled trail.
To demonstrate the utility of pulse oximetry in detecting clinically unapparent episodes of arterial desaturation in postoperative cardiac surgical patients and to evaluate the effect of pulse oximetry on ordering arterial blood gas analyses. ⋯ Pulse oximetry improves patient safety through the detection of clinically unapparent episodes of desaturation and can allow a reduction in the number of blood gas analyses utilized without adverse effects to the patient. This may allow a potential cost savings to the patient.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Performance evaluation of three vaporizing humidifiers and two heat and moisture exchangers in patients with minute ventilation > 10 L/min.
To compare the thermal and humidification capacity of three heated hot water systems (HHWSs) and two heat and moisture exchangers (HMEs) in ICU patients submitted to minute ventilation > 10 L/min. ⋯ The Hygrobac filter had a thermal and humidification capability closed to the two HHWSs (81 to 97 percent) but the capability declines over 24 h. The Pall filter had a poor capability (54 to 74 percent of that of HHWSs).
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Incidence and potential risk factors for pneumonia due to Haemophilus influenzae in adults treated with mechanical ventilation in a medical-surgical ICU were investigated. Diagnosis was established in 91 episodes and H influenzae was isolated in 20 of them. Mean onset of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) due to H influenzae was 10.8 days after intubation. ⋯ In these mechanically ventilated patients, Haemophilus influenzae was a common causative agent for VAP, frequently associated with Gram-positive cocci. Episodes of H influenzae VAP were associated with a lower mortality compared with other etiologies. The epidemiologic and clinical findings indicate that patients without a prior antimicrobial treatment have increased susceptibility to infections of the airway by H influenzae.