A & A case reports
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Case Reports
Recovery from Extreme Hemodilution (Hemoglobin Level of 0.6 g/dL) in Cadaveric Liver Transplantation.
Decompensated hepatic failure occurred in a patient with a rare blood type. The patient had extreme hemodilution due to massive bleeding during liver transplantation. A shortage of matched and universal donor blood prompted us to transfuse albumin and fresh frozen plasma for intravascular volume resuscitation. ⋯ The accuracy of the measured value of 0.6 g/dL was confirmed. However, the patient recovered from this critical situation after transfusion, and he was eventually discharged from the hospital without significant sequelae. Maintaining normovolemia, administering pure oxygen, ensuring appropriate anesthetic depth, and maintaining minimal inotropic support were essential for this patient's survival during massive bleeding.
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The duration and extent of acute hemodilution that the human body can withstand remains unclear. Many consider 184 mL/m/min to be the oxygen delivery (DO2) threshold below which oxygen consumption (VO2) begins to decrease. ⋯ This case challenges the currently accepted critical DO2 threshold and highlights the need for a comprehensive approach to increase DO2 and decrease VO2 for best patient outcomes. Minimizing VO2, which is usually underemphasized in current clinical practice, probably played an important role in the survival of this patient.
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Case Reports
Contemporary perioperative management of adult familial dysautonomia (Riley-Day syndrome).
Familial dysautonomia (Riley-Day syndrome) is a rare multisystem disorder associated with an excess risk of perioperative morbidity and mortality. Because life expectancy is limited, few reports consider the perioperative management of familial dysautonomia in adults with advanced disease and end-organ dysfunction. Here, we report on the management of an adult patient with familial dysautonomia, highlighting recent developments in perioperative technology and pharmacology of special relevance to this challenging population.
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Case Reports
Emergency cardiopulmonary bypass for massive pulmonary embolism occurring during nephrectomy.
We report a case of cardiac arrest secondary to pulmonary tumor embolization occurring in a patient undergoing nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma with a tumor thrombus invading the inferior vena cava infrahepatically. Tumor embolization in such cases is very rare (1.5%), but if it occurs, mortality is 75%. ⋯ The patient's trachea was extubated on postoperative day 1, and he was discharged home 9 days later neurologically intact. Excellent preoperative and intraoperative communication among all involved health care providers, as well as rapid mobilization of the available resources, played important roles in the patient's positive outcome.