Report of a National Conference on Donation after Cardiac Death

A national conference on organ donation after cardiac death (DCD) was convened to expand the practice of DCD in the continuum of quality end-of-life care. This national conference affirmed the ethical propriety of DCD as not violating the dead donor rule. Further, by new developments not previously reported, the conference resolved controversy regarding the period of circulatory cessation that determines death and allows administration of pre-recovery pharmacologic agents, it established conditions of DCD eligibility, it presented current data regarding the successful transplantation of organs from DCD, it proposed a new framework of data reporting regarding ischemic events, it made specific recommendations to agencies and organizations to remove barriers to DCD, it brought guidance regarding organ allocation and the process of informed consent and it set an action plan to address media issues. When a consensual decision is made to withdraw life support by the attending physician and patient or by the attending physician and a family member or surrogate (particularly in an intensive care unit), a routine opportunity for DCD should be available to honor the deceased donor's wishes in every donor service area (DSA) of the United States.     

Prevention of Descending Pneumonia in Rats with Perflubron-delivered Tobramycin

OBJECTIVES: Patients undergoing emergent endotracheal intubation are at increased risk for developing pneumonia. Although numerous strategies have been investigated to reduce ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), the incidence of VAP and its associated mortality remains high. This investigation tested the hypothesis that LiquiVent (Alliance Pharmaceutical, San Diego, CA-LV) delivered antibiotics (via spray-dried microspheres-SDM) would improve survival in a rat model of descending gram-negative pneumonia. METHODS: Wistar rats (n = 49) were randomized to receive prophylaxis with 1). nothing (controls); 2). intramuscular (IM) tobramycin, 3). intratracheal LV plus SDM shells (vehicle), 4). intratracheal LV plus SDM shells plus IM tobramycin, or 5). intratracheal LV plus SDM containing 1 mg/kg of tobramycin. All interventions were given 24 hours before a bacterial challenge with 10(8) colony-forming units of intratracheal Klebsiella pneumoniae. Mortality at ten days was the sole outcome measure. Survival in individual groups was compared with controls by Fisher's exact test with Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons. RESULTS: All animals in the control group died of pneumonia within ten days of bacterial inoculation (0% survival). Prophylaxis with either IM tobramycin or SDM vehicle plus IM tobramycin provided no protection (0% survival). This is in sharp contrast to the cohort receiving pretreatment with tobramycin-containing SDM delivered via LV, in which 60% of the animals survived to study completion (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Prophylaxis with SDM containing antibiotics delivered in low-dose LV provided significant protection in a rat model of descending gram-negative pneumonia. These data support the hypothesis that perfluorocarbon-delivered intratracheal antimicrobials may be useful in the prevention of VAP.     

Free flap monitoring with continuous tissue oxygen tension measurement

Intraoperative and postoperative free flap monitoring by means of oxygen tension measurement was carried out in 11 patients. We used an invasive flexible microcatheter that allowed for measurement of oxygen tension in all types of free flaps. Two cases of the measured flaps were buried free flaps which do not allow monitoring by clinical assessment. All flaps monitored in this study survived. One case of displacement of the microcatheter occurred. In one patient, the tissue pO₂ monitor successfully detected early vascular thrombosis with subsequent reoperation and salvage of the free flap.     

Periodontal status of orthodontic patients and the relationship between dental aesthetic index and community periodontal index of treatment need

This prospective clinic-based study evaluated the pretreatment periodontal status of the orthodontic patients seen at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria, and assessed the relationship between dental aesthetic index (DAI) scores and periodontal status according to community periodontal index of treatment needs (CPITN) scores. One hundred forty five patients-70 (48.3%) males and 75 (51.7%) females from 6 to 45 years (mean 15.8 +/- 7.5)-were seen. World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines were followed in the examination and reporting of the periodontal status, and DAI scores were assessed based on WHO guidelines. The chi-square test was used to determine the association between the DAI and the CPITN scores. Most patients were in the 6-15 (55.9%) or 16-25 (35.9%) age groups. Based on the WHO preferred cumulative calculations of treatment need (TN), 35.2% of the patients had TN 0, 64.9% had TN 1, 24.9% had TN 2, and only 0.7% had TN 3. The relationship between DAI scores and periodontal treatment needs was not statistically significant (P >.05). Although many patients were yet to attain the WHO goal of no more than 1 sextant affected by bleeding or calculus at the age of 15, over one third had satisfactory periodontal health.     

Educating African American men about the prostate cancer screening dilemma: a randomized intervention.

BACKGROUND: Until there is a definitive demonstration that early diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer reduces disease-related mortality, it is imperative to promote informed screening decisions by providing balanced information about the potential benefits and risks of prostate cancer screening. Within a community/academic collaboration, we conducted a randomized trial of a printed booklet and a videotape that were designed for African American (AA) men. The purpose of the trial was to determine the effect of the interventions on knowledge, decisional conflict, satisfaction with the screening decision, and self-reported screening. METHODS: Participants were 238 AA men, ages 40 to 70 years, who were members of the Prince Hall Masons in Washington, DC. Men were randomly assigned to the (a) video-based information study arm, (b) print-based information study arm, or (c) wait list control study arm. Intervention materials were mailed to men at home. Assessments were conducted at baseline, 1 month, and 12 months postintervention. Multivariate analyses, including ANCOVA and logistic regression, were used to analyze group differences. RESULTS: The booklet and video resulted in a significant improvement in knowledge and a reduction in decisional conflict about prostate cancer screening, relative to the wait list control. Satisfaction with the screening decision was not affected by the interventions. Self-reported screening rates increased between the baseline and the 1-year assessment, although screening was not differentially associated with either of the interventions. In exploratory analyses, prostate-specific antigen testing at 1 year was more likely among previously screened men and was associated with having low baseline decisional conflict. CONCLUSIONS: This study represents one of the first randomized intervention trials specifically designed to address AA men's informed decision making about prostate cancer screening. We have developed and evaluated culturally sensitive, balanced, and disseminable materials that improved knowledge and reduced decisional conflict about prostate cancer screening among AA men. Due to the high incidence and mortality rates among AA men, there is a need for targeted educational materials, particularly materials that are balanced in terms of the benefits and risks of screening.     

Inter- and intraobserver variability in sonographic measurement of the lower uterine segment after a previous Cesarean section.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the reproducibility of sonographic measurement of the lower uterine segment in pregnant women at term. METHODS: Two independent observers performed transabdominal sonography on 129 women between 36 and 38 weeks of gestation who had had a previous Cesarean section. Sonography was performed when the patients had a full and a half-full bladder; in 100 patients, the measurements were also performed transvaginally, with the patients having an empty bladder. Agreement was quantified by the intraclass correlation coefficient and, using a cut-off of 3.5 mm, by the kappa coefficient. RESULTS: The intraobserver agreement was generally high (intraclass correlation coefficient > 0.90). The interobserver agreement was higher on transvaginal (intraclass correlation coefficient, 0.94) compared with transabdominal (0.70 and 0.84, with full and half-full bladder, respectively) ultrasound. The kappa coefficient was 0.75 transvaginally, compared with 0.34 and 0.54 using the transabdominal approach, with full and half-full bladder, respectively. CONCLUSION: The agreement between two observers for sonographic transvaginal measurement of the lower uterine segment can be considered good, compared with poor to moderate agreement using the transabdominal approach.