Noninvasive Intracranial Cerebral Flow Velocity Evaluation in the Emergency Department by Emergency Physicians

Transcranial Doppler (TCD) is an accepted modality for the evaluation of cerebral blood flow velocities. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to test the feasibility of bedside TCD measurement in the emergency department (ED) with critically ill, intubated patients. METHODS: A prospective convenience sample of patients presenting to a university hospital over a two-month period underwent TCD evaluation of the middle cerebral artery. Intubated patients with head trauma and any patient requiring tracheal intubation were eligible. A 2-MHz Doppler probe was positioned over the temporal bone to acquire blood flow velocities. An emergency medicine resident and research assistant obtained measurements. Continuous TCD tracings were recorded on a video cassette recorder tape for quality assurance review and data collection. Vital signs and therapeutic interventions were also recorded. Flow velocities were measured in cm/s; the peak Resistance Index (RI) was calculated for each patient. RESULTS: A total of 30 patients were enrolled in the study. Adequate tracings were obtained in 25 patients (83%) without a disruption of resuscitation. Tracings could not be obtained in five patients; they were listed as TCD failures. However, in two of these patients, adequate flow velocity tracings were obtained after resuscitation. Four patients were evaluated during tracheal intubation. One patient was monitored successfully during cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The median time required for data acquisition was 1.9 minutes. The mean highest RI for those who expired was 0.84. For those who survived, the mean highest RI was 0.52. The difference of 0.32 was statistically significant (p = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: Noninvasive blood flow velocity monitoring of the middle cerebral artery using TCD is feasible in the ED when performed at the bedside on intubated patients with traumatic brain injury and others during tracheal intubation and resuscitation.     

Iniencephaly and long-term survival: a rare case report

Introduction Iniencephaly, a neural tube defect involving occiput and inion and combined with rachischisis of the cervical, thoracic spine, and retroflexion position of the head is a very rare congenital abnormality of the fetus–newborn with a 0.1–10 of 10,000 prevalence. This abnormality’s prognosis is thought to be dismal. This abnormality can be associated with other abnormalities such as anencephaly, encephalocele, hydrocephalus, cyclopia, absence of the mandible, cleft lip and palate, cardiovascular disorders, diaphragmatic hernia, renal abnormalities, overgrowth of the arms compared to the legs, and club food and gastrointestinal atresia. Discussion Most of the patients are dead born, and the others die in a few hours. There are only six previously documented long-term survivors. In our case, our patient with iniencephalic signs and findings is still living. She is 2 years old now. We think that this patient presents a mild form of iniencephaly.     

Thyroid Artery Erosion by Esophageal Cancer: Management with Interventional Radiology

Management of upper gastrointestinal bleeding because of erosion of vessels by esophageal cancer may be challenging. We present herein the angiographic images of a 49-year-old patient who was admitted with massive bleeding from a tumor-eroded inferior thyroid artery. Attempts to control the bleeding by means of flexible endoscopy and insertion of a Sengstaken–Blakemore tube had failed. The diagnosis was impressively demonstrated by multislice computed tomography with intravenous contrast in the arterial phase and multiplanar reconstructions (computed tomography angiography) and by digital subtraction angiography. The bleeding was successfully treated with superselective catheterization and coiling of the eroded vessel.     

鼻胃管胃肠减压在择期腹部手术中的应用价值

鼻胃管胃肠减压曾被常规应用于择期和急诊的腹部手术后，目的是预防急性胃扩张的发生、治疗梗阻、降低吻合口压力等。但是，鼻胃管置入也会带来一些副作用，如呼吸道并发症、胃-食道反流、体液和电解质的丢失、声带的损伤，以及越来越被重视的患者的不适感。近年来的研究结果也对择期的腹部手术后常规应用鼻胃管胃肠减压提出不同的看法。现重新评价应用鼻胃管胃肠减压的理论基础及相关临床研究的结果，并对鼻胃管胃肠减压在择期腹部手术中的价值作一综述。     

人发角蛋白桥接周围神经缺损的形态学观察

目的 :了解人发角蛋白在神经再生中的作用 ,为临床桥接周围神经缺损寻求新的替代材料。方法 :将 18只新西兰兔的双侧坐骨神经切断 ,造成 10mm缺损 ,一侧用人发角蛋白桥接 (实验组 ) ,另一侧用空硅胶管桥接 (对照组 ) ,术后 1、 2、 3个月通过肉眼观察 ,光镜、电镜和有髓神经密度测定 ,观察、分析神经再生情况。结果 :实验组再生神经均通过 10mm缺损 ,对照组有 2例无神经生长 ;实验组再生神经排列较紧密、有序 ,髓鞘形成早于对照组 ;神经纤维密度明显高于对照组 (P <0 0 1)。结论 :人发角蛋白可促进周围神经再生 ,是桥接周围神经缺损的理想材料。     

Effects of tracheal extubation on coronary blood flow,myocardial metabolism and systemic haemodynamic responses

Global coronary blood flow and metabolism were measured in seven patients on the first postoperative day following coronary revascularization to test the hypothesis that tracheal extubation produces adverse haemodynamic responses akin to those observed during tracheal intubation. Regional coronary flow and metabolic measurements were made in five of the seven patients. Extubation from a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) of 5 cm H₂O was associated with a statistically significant rise in cardiac index from 3.44 ± 0.23 L · min^-1 · m^-2 to 3.73 ± 0.15L·min^-1 ·m^-2 related to an increase in stroke index, without significant changes in heart rate, mean arterial and pulmonary capillary wedge pressure. Consequently the changes in myocardial oxygen consumption (8.52 ± 0.55 to 8.85 ± 0.93 ml · min^-1) and coronary blood flow (172 ± 18 to 179 ± 17 ml·min^-1) were less prominent than those reported during intubation, where substantial rises in myocardial oxygen consumption and coronary flow occurred. Two patients experienced cardiac lactate production but there were no changes in systemic or coronary haemodynamics, nor were there clinical or electrocardiographic signs of ischaemia. We conclude that extubation does not appear to be associated with adverse systemic or coronary haemodynamic responses in patients following coronary bypass grafting. However, the revascularized myocardium may remain vulnerable to anaerobic metabolism in the immediate postoperative period. Pour savoir si comme ľintubation, ľextubation de la trachée provoque des perturbations hémodynamiques, on a mesuré le métabolisme et la circulation coronarienne globale chez sept patients, au lendemain ďun pontage aorto-coronarien. On a aussi calculé les valeurs régionales de ces mêmes variables pour cinq ďentre eux. Ľindex cardiaque de 3.44 ± 0.23 L · min^-1 · m^-2 sous pression positive en respiration spontanée (CPAP) de 5 cm. H₂O s’est élevé à 3.73 ± 0.15 L · min^-1 · m^-2 post-extubation avec une augmentation significative du volume ďéjection. La fréquence cardiaque et les pressions artérielles moyennes et capillaires pulmonaires n’ont pas changé. Ainsi ľaugmentation de la consommation ďoxygène du myocarde de 8.52 ± 0.55 à 8.85 ± 0.93 ml · min^-1 et celle du flot coronarien de 172 ± 18 à 179 ± 17 ml · min^-1 ont été moindres que celles, importantes, déjà observées lors de ľintubation. On a noté chez deux patients une production de lactate par le myocarde, sans changement de ľhémodynamic systémique et coronarienne non plus que de signe clinique ou électrocardiographique ďischémie. Donc, après un pontage coronarien, ľextubation ne semble pas causer ďeffet néfaste sur les circulations systémique et coronarienne, toutefois, le myocarde revascularisé peut demeurer sensible au métabolisme anaérobique.     

应用无死腔气管插管提高正常和急性肺损伤兔的机械通气效率

目的：观察无死腔气管插管能否提高急性呼吸衰竭常规机械通气的效果。方法：应用一种新型无死腔气管插管和普通聚氯乙烯气管插管对正常和急性肺损伤兔进行常规通气，对两种气管插管的肺气体交换和气道内气体动力学及血流动力学变化进行比较。无死腔气管插管用２根Ｐｏｔｅｘ气管插管远端３ｃｍ处纵切后对粘而成。５只新西兰成年兔，麻醉下气管切开，在持续应用潘龙阻断自主呼吸条件下，随机用新型气管插管和普通气管插管Ｓｅｒｖｏ９００Ｃ进行机械通气，每次持续３０分钟，测定并记录动脉血压、气道压力、血流动力学参数和呼气末ＣＯ２浓度。结果：在正常肺和急性肺损伤条件下，新型气管插管可使所有动物的ＰａＣＯ２和生理死腔／潮气量（ＶＤ／ＶＴ）下降，ＰａＣＯ２分别下降１．４０±０．２０ｋＰａ（１ｋＰａ＝７．５ｍｍＨｇ）和１．６０±０．３０ｋＰａ（Ｐ＜０．０１），ＶＤ／ＶＴ分别下降０．１３±０．０２和０．１５±０．０４（Ｐ＜０．０１）；ＰａＯ２、气道压力和血流动力学无显著变化。结论：无死腔气管插管可明显提高常规机械通气效率。     

小鼠腹腔感染中白色念珠菌芽管及蛋白酶活性与其毒力的相关性研究

目的 :探讨白色念珠菌与腹膜炎发生相关的毒力因子。方法 :40株临床分离菌分别以腹腔接种方式感染小鼠进行毒力试验 ,以血清中丙氨酸氨基转移酶 (ALT)和α -淀粉酶 (AM)活力为表示菌株毒力的指标。结果 :白念菌体外测得的芽管长度分别与受染动物血清中ALT、AM含量呈正相关 (rALT=0 . 893,rAM=0 . 80 1,P <0 . 0 1) ,菌株分泌型天冬氨酸蛋白酶 (SAP)活力与血中ALT、AM水平也存在显著的正相关关系 (P <0 .0 1) ,且经SAP特异抑制剂处理过的受染小鼠其ALT活性显著降低 (P <0 . 0 1)。结论 :白念菌芽管和蛋白酶均为其与腹膜炎发生有关的重要的毒力因子     

Absorption of Propranolol in Humans Following Oral,Jejunal, and Heal Administration

Pharmaceutical Research -     

Are common mutations of cystathionine β-synthase involved in the aetiology of neural tube defects?

Mildly elevated maternal plasma homocysteine (Hcy) levels (hyperhomocysteinemia) have recently been observed in some neural tube defect (NTD) pregnancies. Plasma levels of Hcy are governed by both genetic and nutritional factors and the aetiology of NTDs is also known to have both genetic and nutritional components. We therefore examined the frequency of relatively common mutations in the enzyme cystathionine β-synthase (CBS), which is one of the main enzymes that controls Hcy levels, in the NTD population. Neither the severely dysfunctional G307S CBS allele nor the recently reported 68 bp insertion/I278T CBS allele was observed at increased frequency in the cases relative to controls. We therefore conclude that loss of function CBS alleles do not account for a significant proportion of NTDs in Ireland.