British journal of anaesthesia
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Myocardial infarction is encountered rarely during pregnancy, but when it occurs the event is life-threatening to both mother and fetus. Data on maternal and fetal outcome are limited, but overall maternal mortality approaches 35%, and 40% of deaths occur during the third trimester. We present a case of myocardial infarction occurring at 38 weeks gestation, and discuss the anaesthetic management of the problems encountered during labour and delivery.
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We have studied, in the monkey, the critical volume for the production of severe pneumonitis following pulmonary aspiration of gastric contents. Aspiration of 0.4 ml kg-1 and 0.6 ml kg-1 at pH1 produced mild to moderate clinical and radiological changes, but no deaths. ⋯ At 1.0 ml kg-1, 50% of the animals died--a mortality rate considerably less than that reported previously in animal studies. If these results were to be extrapolated to humans, the critical volume for severe aspiration could be increased from 25 ml to 50 ml (0.8 ml kg-1), considerably reducing the percentage of patients perceived to be "at risk".