Anesthesiology
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Brain injury associated with neonatal congenital heart operations performed during deep hypothermia and/or total circulatory arrest is often attributed to cerebral hypoxia. We studied the kinetic changes in cerebrovascular hemoglobin O2 saturation (HbO2%) and total hemoglobin concentration (Hbtotal) in 17 neonates undergoing cardiac surgery as they were cooled to 15 degrees C, underwent total circulatory arrest, and were rewarmed. HbO2% and Hbtotal in brain vasculature were monitored noninvasively by near-infrared spectroscopy. ⋯ Brain intravascular HbO2% and Hbtotal increased within 3 min after the onset of recirculation to prearrest levels, and during rewarming, HbO2% decreased to normothermic baseline values. The results demonstrate that cerebral oxygenation increased during CPB cooling; O2 was consumed by the neonatal brain during the initial 40 min of deep hypothermic circulatory arrest; and cerebral oxygenation was restored on recirculation. These observations may be important in identifying the etiologies of brain injury during neonatal congenital heart surgery.
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The purpose of this study was to assess whether plasma adrenocorticotropin, cortisol, vasopressin, and renin concentrations are higher in resuscitated than in nonresuscitated patients during cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and whether there are possible correlations between these hormones and blood pressure or heart rate in the immediate postresuscitation phase. Of 34 consecutive patients (36-85 yr of age) with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, 20 could be successfully resuscitated and admitted to hospital, whereas in the remaining 14 patients restoration of spontaneous circulation could not be achieved. ⋯ No significant correlations were found between hormone levels and blood pressure or heart rate, but there was a significant negative correlation between the interval from collapse to the start of cardiopulmonary resuscitation and plasma cortisol concentrations during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (Spearman rank correlation coefficient = -0.967, P less than 0.001), indicating an impaired cortisol release from the adrenal cortex. The lower hormone concentrations of the nonresuscitated patients measured during cardiopulmonary resuscitation might indicate an impairment in neuroendocrine response.
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Biography Historical Article
Michael Faraday and his contribution to anesthesia.
Michael Faraday (1791-1867) was a protégé of Humphry Davy. He became one of Davy's successors as Professor of Chemistry at the Royal Institution of Great Britain. Of Faraday's many brilliant discoveries in chemistry and physics, probably the best remembered today is his work on electromagnetic induction. ⋯ Sulfuric ether was a common, convenient, cheap, and easily available substance, in contrast to nitrous oxide, which required expensive, cumbersome, and probably not widely available apparatus for its production and administration. The capability for inhaling intoxicating vapors eventually became commonly available with the use of ether instead of the gas. The first surgical anesthetics were a consequence of the resulting student "ether frolics." The 1818 announcement on breathing ether vapor was published anonymously; however, notations in Faraday's handwriting in some of his personal books clearly establish Michael Faraday as the author of this brief communication.
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Letter Case Reports
Use of the capnograph to detect leaks in the anesthesia circuit.