Der Anaesthesist
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A 41-year-old woman with severe juvenile diabetes mellitus suffered from profound hypothermia after loss of thermoregulation in diabetic ketoacidosis. She was found unconscious, without measurable blood pressure; the electrocardiogram (ECG) showed bradycardia of 30 min and the rectal temperature was 23.7 degrees C. The patient received mechanical ventilation, fluid therapy, warmed gastric lavage, and, unfortunately, inotropic medication. ⋯ Sinus rhythm resumed without antiarrhythmic medications at a temperature of 29.5 degrees C, and within 8 h the patient was rewarmed to 35.5 degrees C. After treatment of the adult respiratory distress syndrome caused by pneumonia, she was discharged from the intensive care unit to complete treatment with no evidence of any permanent organ damage. We conclude that hemofiltration may be the method of choice for rewarming deeply hypothermic patients when their circulation is preserved.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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After laparoscopic cholecystectomy, carbon dioxide (CO2) must be exhaled after resorption from the abdominal cavity. There is controversy about the amount and relevance of postoperative CO2 resorption. Without continuous postoperative monitoring, after laparoscopic cholecystectomy a certain risk may consist in unnoticed hypercapnia due to CO2 resorption. ⋯ There is no significant resorption of CO2 from the abdominal cavity later than 30 min after releasing the KP. Up to this time, any CO2 remaining in the abdominal cavity after careful emptying by the surgeon has been resorbed and exhaled. An increased PeCO2 as late as 30 to 90 min postoperatively should rather be considered a consequence of residual anaesthetics and narcotics than of CO2 resorption.
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Case Reports
[Difficult intubation due to facial malformations in a child. The laryngeal mask as an aid].
Variations in anatomy of the bony and soft-tissue structures of the neck and facial cranium due to trauma, disease, or dysmorphic syndromes may lead to severe intubation problems. These patients are admitted for mandibulofacial and otolaryngologic surgery. It is important to inspect the patient's outer and inner pharyngeal structures carefully during preoperative assessment, as suggested by Mallampati. ⋯ The patient's jaw was hypoplastic with aplasia of the temporo-mandibular joint, which led to asymmetry of the lower face and an extremely short mandible. Additionally, we observed a large tongue in relation to the small jaw. Macrostomia is part of the syndrome, and may lead to underestimation of intubation problems.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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Slices of the rabbit caudate nucleus were incubated with [3H]choline for 30 min and then superfused continuously with Mg(2+)-free medium at 37 degrees C. Stimulation with N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) caused a concentration-dependent release of [3H]acetylcholine (ACh), which was abolished in the presence of MG2+. This release of ACh was exocytotic and mediated by action potentials. ⋯ At the neuropathologic level, Parkinson's disease is characterized by an overshoot of striatal cholinergic transmission due to the decreased inhibitory dopaminergic input from the substantia nigra. The well-known antiparkinsonian effect of memantine and amantadine is most probably due to a blockade of NMDA-receptor-linked ion channels on striatal cholinergic interneurons, leading in turn to a diminished release of ACh. Since ketamine diminished cholinergic neurotransmission to a similar degree to that achieved with memantine and amantadine and even more potently than the adamantanes, and that at concentrations far below those needed for its anaesthetic and analgesic properties, it seems worthwhile to test this drug as an antiparkinsonian agent clinically.