Anesthesiology
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Cigarette smoke, which serves as a nicotine delivery vehicle in humans, produces profound changes in physiology. Experimental studies suggest that nicotine has analgesic properties. ⋯ This review will examine current knowledge regarding how acute and chronic exposure to nicotine and cigarette smoke affects acute and chronic painful conditions. It will cover the relevant pharmacology of nicotine and other ligands at the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor as related to pain, explore the association of cigarette smoking with chronic painful conditions and potential mechanisms to explain this association, and examine clinical implications for the care of smokers with pain.
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Delay in defibrillation (more than 2 min) is associated with worse survival in patients with a cardiac arrest because of ventricular fibrillation or pulseless ventricular tachycardia in intensive care units and inpatient wards. ⋯ Delays in defibrillation occurred in one of seven cardiac arrests in the intraoperative and periprocedural arenas. Although delayed defibrillation was associated with lower rates of survival after cardiac arrests in periprocedural areas, there was no association with survival for cardiac arrests in the operating room.
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The 1996 atenolol study provided evidence that perioperative β-adrenergic receptor blockade (β-blockade) reduced postsurgical mortality. In 1998, the indications for perioperative β-blockade were codified as the Perioperative Cardiac Risk Reduction protocol and implemented at the San Francisco Veterans Administration Medical Center, San Francisco, California. The present study analyzed the association of the pattern of use of perioperative β-blockade with perioperative mortality since introduction of the Perioperative Cardiac Risk Reduction protocol. ⋯ Perioperative β-blockade administered according to the Perioperative Cardiac Risk Reduction protocol is associated with a reduction in 30-day and 1-yr mortality. Perioperative withdrawal of β-blockers is associated with increased mortality.
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Human embryonic stem cell (hESC)-derived cardiomyocytes potentially represent a powerful experimental model complementary to myocardium obtained from patients that is relatively inaccessible for research purposes. We tested whether anesthetic-induced preconditioning (APC) with isoflurane elicits competent protective mechanisms in hESC-derived cardiomyocytes against oxidative stress to be used as a model of human cardiomyocytes for studying preconditioning. ⋯ APC elicits competent protective mechanisms against oxidative stress in hESC-derived cardiomyocytes, suggesting the feasibility to use these cells as a model of human cardiomyocytes for studying APC and potentially other treatments/diseases. Our differentiation protocol is very efficient and yields a high percentage of cardiomyocytes. These results also suggest a promising ability of APC to protect and improve engraftment of hESC-derived cardiomyocytes into the ischemic heart.
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Sevoflurane may prolong the corrected QT (QTc) interval in healthy humans when administered for induction and maintenance of anesthesia. Little information is available about the dose-response relationship of sevoflurane on the QTc interval. We performed a pharmacodynamic analysis of the relationship between end-tidal sevoflurane concentration (CET) and the QTc. ⋯ Among patients receiving sevoflurane for anesthesia, QTc interval changes correlate to anesthetic level. The Ce50 for significant QTc change is at clinically relevant levels of sevoflurane anesthesia.