Revue des maladies respiratoires
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Mechanical ventilation may have adverse effects on the lung. The appearance of extra-alveolar air, either as a pneumothorax or as subcutaneous emphysema along with other manifestations, is a complication of barotrauma which has been known for a long time. Recent experimental studies have clearly shown that mechanical ventilation can also lead to alterations in the blood gas barrier. ⋯ These anomalies are made as a result of pulmonary distension and not as a result of elevated pressures in the airways, thus justifying the term "volume traumatism". The existence of previous acute pulmonary injury considerably worsens the deleterious pulmonary effect of mechanical ventilation. Although the direct clinical implications of these experimental studies are difficult to confirm, these latter have nevertheless lead to profound changes in ventilatory strategy during the course of acute pulmonary disease such as the adult respiratory distress syndrome.
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The measure of dead space (VD) has been at the centre of a controversy in the diagnosis of pulmonary emboli. We present an unusual case report because we had measured the dead space before the acute incident. The improvement in the result only occurred after the imposition of a vena caval filter and this supplied the discussion on the specificity of scintigraphy to appreciate the functional state of the pulmonary vascular bed.
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Case Reports
[Idiopathic spontaneous pneumomediastinum: a not to be mistaken diagnosis in chest pain].
We report two cases of mediastinal emphysema occurring without etiologic factor. Chest pain and subcutaneous emphysema are the most prevalent symptoms. In the absence of oesophagus related symptoms, a single chest radiograph is usually sufficient to make the diagnosis. In this paper, we recall the main radiographic signs, physio-pathological mechanisms, and differential diagnosis of spontaneous pneumomediastinum.
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Review Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
[Non-invasive ventilation in acute respiratory insufficiency in chronic obstructive bronchopneumopathy].
At the time of acute exacerbations of chronic airflow obstruction (BPCO) non-invasive ventilation represents an alternative to endotracheal intubation. In patients with respiratory distress, the use of a face mask is often preferable to a nasal mask alone, by avoiding the escape of oxygen which occurs around the mouth in nasal ventilation. ⋯ The consequences were a significant reduction of the complications of acute respiratory failure which were linked to artificial ventilation (p < 0.05) with a reduction of the hospital stay (p < 0.05) and finally a significant reduction in mortality (29 per cent - 9 per cent, p < 0.005). From now on, this technique could be used in many centres as the first treatment in acute exacerbations of BPCO patients to avoid the use of endotracheal intubation.
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After having invented the stethoscope, Laennec published his treatise on auscultation in 1819, describing the acoustic events generated by ventilation and linking them with anatomopathological findings. The weak points of his semiology lay in its subjective and interpretative character, expressed by an imprecise and picturesque nomenclature. Technical studies of breath sounds began in the middle of the twentieth century, and this enabled the American Thoracic Society to elaborate a new classification of adventitious noises based on a few physical characteristics. ⋯ Technology development raises hope for the design, in near future, of automatic processes for respiratory noise detection and classification. Systematic research into the production mechanisms and sites of these noises has progressed equally. It should, in time, reinforce their semiological value and give to auscultation, either instrumental or using the stethoscope or instrumentally, an increased diagnostic power and the status of respiratory function test.