Articles: function.
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Curr Opin Anaesthesiol · Feb 2015
ReviewTransesophageal echocardiography in thoracic anesthesia: pulmonary hypertension and right ventricular function.
Pulmonary hypertension is associated with increased postoperative morbidity and mortality. Early diagnosis and echocardiographic detection of right ventricular (RV) dysfunction are paramount in perioperative management. The goal of this review is to provide an overview of the recent literature on this topic. ⋯ More pulmonary hypertension patients are presenting for noncardiac surgery, creating a challenge for the anesthesiologist. Echocardiographic detection of RV dysfunction can be difficult. Routine use of intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography in major thoracic surgery is not advocated yet, but the development of automated techniques may provide an objective assessment of RV function.
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The aim of this study was to explore the nociceptive system of patients affected by trigeminal neuralgia (TN) secondary to documented vascular contact who underwent microvascular decompression. For that purpose, we used the classical trigeminal reflexes and the trigeminal laser-evoked potentials (tLEPs) before and after surgery, in order to verify any possible change after decompression and determine if there was any correlation between the neurophysiological parameters and the clinical outcome. ⋯ This study demonstrates that TN caused by trigeminovascular compression may be related to Aδ fibres impairment, and tLEPs are more sensitive than conventional trigeminal reflexes to reveal small fibre dysfunction and to monitor the post-surgical outcome in these patients.
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Critical care medicine · Feb 2015
A Clinical Classification of the Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome for Predicting Outcome and Guiding Medical Therapy.
Current in-hospital mortality of the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is above 40%. ARDS outcome depends on the lung injury severity within the first 24 hours of ARDS onset. We investigated whether two widely accepted cutoff values of PaO2/FIO2 and positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) would identify subsets of patients with ARDS for predicting outcome and guiding therapy. ⋯ The degree of lung dysfunction established by a PaO2/FIO2 of 150 mm Hg and a PEEP of 10 cm H2O demonstrated that ARDS is not a homogeneous disorder. Rather, it is a series of four subsets that should be considered for enrollment in clinical trials and for guiding therapy. A major contribution of our study is the distinction between survival after 24 hours of care versus survival at the time of ARDS onset.
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Rodent mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) enhance repair after ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI). We wished to determine the therapeutic potential of human MSCs (hMSCs) in repairing the rodent lung. ⋯ hMSC therapy demonstrates therapeutic potential in enhancing recovery after VILI.
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OSA is associated with significant adverse outcomes with far-reaching health-care implications. OSA is much more common and severe in patients with Down syndrome (DS) than in the general population, yet there is a striking lack of literature in this area. In this review article, we have summarized the current state of knowledge and presented the available data on OSA in DS. ⋯ Treatment of OSA in DS involves the use of CPAP, upper airway surgery, and dental appliances, along with weight-reduction strategies, nasal steroids, and oral leukotriene modifiers as adjunctive treatments. The treatment plan should be individualized for each patient with DS, taking into account age, comorbid conditions, and barriers to treatment adherence. Future research should aim to better characterize OSA, further evaluate neurocognitive outcomes, and evaluate the efficacy of treatments in patients with DS.