The International journal of artificial organs
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Clinical Trial
Global and extended coagulation monitoring during extracorporeal lung assist with heparin-coated systems in ARDS patients.
Heparin-coated systems for extracorporeal lung-assist (ECLA) were developed to reduce hemorrhagic risk by lowering the systemic heparinization, monitored by global tests, e.g. activated coagulation time (ACT) and activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT). Since this strategy gives no insight into procoagulant states, five ARDS patients receiving ECLA with heparin-coated systems were investivated for changes in coagulation using both global and extended tests. ⋯ In conclusion, after the onset of ECLA from a previous prethrombotic state, the precoagulant, anticoagulant, fibrinolytic and complement systems were activated in a similar way to that reported for non-heparinized systems with high-dose heparin. This was however only monitored by an extended test panel which was unable to predict thromboembolic events during ECLA.
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Rhabdomyolysis is characterized by extensive damage of striated muscle, while the major complication of this disease is the development of acute myoglobinuric renal failure. Although first described more than five decades ago very little has changed with regard to the management of this entity as conventional hemodialysis has not been shown to effect myoglobin elimination. However, continuous arteriovenous hemofiltration (CAVH) offers an alternative to conventional hemodialysis as this procedure is more effective particularly for removing larger molecular weight substances such as myoglobin. ⋯ The clearance of myoglobin via the hemofilter was 2.05 +/- 1.48 L/day. The amount of myoglobin excreted in the ultrafiltrate over the six hour filtering period was 410 +/- 234 mg which accounts for 10.27 +/- 5.85 percent of the administered dose. Based on these findings, it appears that the hemofiltration system is a viable option for the removal of myoglobin from the systemic circulation.
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Case Reports
Primary graft failure after heart transplantation. Successful recovery with pneumatic biventricular assistance.
A 41-year-old male underwent orthotopic heart transplantation complicated by intraoperative acute allograft failure. The patient required immediate placement of a pneumatic biventricular assist device which was kept for 49 days until graft recovery resulted in successful explantation of the device. The patient was discharged from hospital on postoperative day 112. Management of primary cardiac allograft failure with mechanical ventricular assistance is discussed.