Critical care nursing clinics of North America
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Crit Care Nurs Clin North Am · Mar 1994
Case ReportsAdvanced case studies in hemodynamic monitoring: postoperative cardiovascular patients.
Pediatric patients with complex congenital cardiac defects present unique challenges in hemodynamic monitoring to the critical care nurse. An understanding of the hemodynamic alterations caused by both the underlying lesions and the surgical repairs is necessary to establish acceptable parameters in caring for these patients. In these complex patients, understanding expected deviations from normal ranges and integrating this information with clinical presentations is critical for individualizing effective interventions. An overview of hemodynamic monitoring and two advanced case studies are presented.
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Crit Care Nurs Clin North Am · Mar 1994
Mechanical support for congestive heart failure in infants and children.
Pharmacologic therapy is the primary intervention for congestive heart failure in children. When pharmacologic support is unsuccessful, however, the use of mechanical support is becoming more common. The use of intraaortic balloon counterpulsation, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, ventricular assist devices, and abdominal compression devices in infants and children is increasingly becoming a viable option in pediatrics. Despite these advances, development of mechanical support for refractory CHF must continue for the development of ventricular assist devices and artificial hearts for infant and children as a bridge to transplant.
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Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome is characterized by a classic ECG pattern and a history of palpitations, syncope, pre-syncope, or tachyarrhythmias. An electrophysiology study is an integral part of the diagnosis and treatment of this disease, and with the advent of catheter ablative techniques, WPW syndrome is now considered a curable disease. The critical care nurse needs to be aware of the acute and chronic treatment of this syndrome, the complications of therapy, and the educational needs of the patient and family.