Perfusion
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Massive pulmonary embolism is a leading cause of death during pregnancy. While the prevention of thromboembolic disease during the peripartum period is codified, there is no consensus regarding its treatment. We report two cases of pregnant women who had massive pulmonary embolisms (PE) and shock treated with veno-arterial extracorporeal life support (ECLS) and heparin therapy. ⋯ The patients completely recovered and the pregnancies continued. The patients did not develop pulmonary hypertension. ECLS can be considered as a successful treatment option of massive pulmonary embolism during pregnancy.
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A novel and portable extracorporeal CO2-removal device was evaluated to provide additional gas transfer, auxiliary to standard therapy in severe acute hypercapnic respiratory failure. A dual-lumen catheter was inserted percutaneously in five subjects (mean age 55 ± 0.4 years) and, subsequently, connected to the CO2-removal device. The median duration on support was 45 hours (interquartile range 26-156), with a blood flow rate of approximately 500 mL/min. ⋯ Three subjects were directly weaned from the CO2-removal device and mechanical ventilation, one subject was converted to ECMO and one subject died following withdrawal of support. No systemic bleeding or device complications were observed. Low-flow CO2 removal adjuvant to standard therapy was effective in steadily removing CO2, limiting the progression of acidosis in subjects with severe acute hypercapnic respiratory failure.
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Aged hearts are particularly vulnerable to reperfusion injury. We recently showed that single-dose del Nido cardioplegia was superior to 'standard' multi-dose 4:1 blood cardioplegia in aged rat hearts. This study seeks to determine if multi-dose del Nido cardioplegia offers additional benefits over single-dose del Nido cardioplegia. ⋯ Troponin release during reperfusion was similar in the single (0.263 ± 0.056 ng/ml) and multi-dose groups (0.261 ± 0.055 ng/ml). Although functional recovery was similar early after reperfusion (stroke work 91 ± 6 ml*mmHg*g(-1) vs. 91 ± 8 ml*mmHg*g(-1) for single- vs. multi-dose), it declined over time in the multi-dose group (71 ± 9 vs. 43 ± 9 ml*mmHg*g(-1) at 60 min, p=0.0175) CONCLUSIONS: In aged rat hearts, a single-dose del Nido cardioplegia strategy results in superior functional recovery compared to a multi-dose del Nido cardioplegia strategy.