Intensive care medicine
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Intensive care medicine · Jan 1993
Case ReportsA rare complication of the use of a finger cot to protect the cuff of a tracheal tube during nasotracheal intubation.
Some anesthetists in Switzerland and elsewhere use a finger cot to protect the cuff of the endotracheal tube during nasotracheal intubation. In the presented report the finger cut was lost during the procedure and the patient presented 3 months later with a lateral neck mass. The finger cot was found within that mass at exploration. Apart from the other potential risks of this manoeuvre, this severe complication should incite caution against the practice described above.
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Intensive care medicine · Jan 1993
Comparative StudyPerformance of a hydrophobic heat and moisture exchanger at different ambient temperatures.
To evaluate the effect of different room temperatures on hydrophobic heat and moisture exchangers (HME) humidifying capability and efficiency. ⋯ Hydrophobic HMEs appear to be affected by room temperature, increasing their humidifying ability and their efficiency with its rise.
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Intensive care medicine · Jan 1993
Use of heat and moisture exchanging (HME) filters in mechanically ventilated ICU patients: influence on airway flow-resistance.
To investigate the flow-resistance of a new generation of Heat Moisture Exchanging Filters (HME filters) during 24 h of clinical use. ⋯ The gas conditioning efficiency and design performance of the tested HMEs did not create a significant obstacle to airflow medium term mechanical ventilation; however, these devices should be cautiously used in patients with heavy bronchial secretions.
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Intensive care medicine · Jan 1993
Case ReportsMultiple organ failure and coma as initial presentation of pheochromocytoma in a patient with multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN) type II A.
The unusual case of a 65-year-old woman with intermittent hypotension, fever, pulmonary edema and coma as initial presentation of pheochromocytoma is reported. The patient developed respiratory, cardiac and renal failure, disseminated intravascular coagulation and liver dysfunction. ⋯ After successful surgical removal of a pheochromocytoma a thyroid medullary carcinoma was detected. Several members of the patients family had presented with multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN II).
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Intensive care medicine · Jan 1993
Brain resuscitation by extracorporeal circulation after prolonged cardiac arrest in cats.
Brain reanimation after prolonged ischemia is limited by post-ischemic reperfusion deficits (no-reflow phenomenon). The present study was undertaken to establish whether after 30 min cardiac arrest extracorporeal circulation is able to restore brain reperfusion and to promote functional and metabolic recovery. ⋯ This study demonstrates for the first time that ECC is able to restore electrophysiological and metabolic brain function after cardiac arrest of as long as 30 min, but recovery is heavily restricted by delayed post-ischemic disturbances of recirculation. Progress in cardiac resuscitation by ECC requires substantial improvement in the efficiency of cerebrovascular reperfusion.