TheScientificWorldJournal
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TheScientificWorldJournal · Jan 2012
Comparative StudyA comparison of third-generation semi-invasive arterial waveform analysis with thermodilution in patients undergoing coronary surgery.
Uncalibrated semi-invasive continous monitoring of cardiac index (CI) has recently gained increasing interest. The aim of the present study was to compare the accuracy of CI determination based on arterial waveform analysis with transpulmonary thermodilution. Fifty patients scheduled for elective coronary surgery were studied after induction of anaesthesia and before and after cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), respectively. ⋯ Changes in pulse contour CI showed a significant correlation with changes in thermodilution CI both before (r(2) = 0.52, P < 0.0001) and after (r(2) = 0.67, P < 0.0001) CPB. Our findings demonstrated that uncalibrated semi-invasive monitoring system was able to reliably measure CI compared with transpulmonary thermodilution in patients undergoing elective coronary surgery. Furthermore, the semi-invasive monitoring device was able to track haemodynamic changes and trends.
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TheScientificWorldJournal · Jan 2012
Ill, itinerant, and insured: the top 20 users of emergency departments in Baltimore city.
The purpose of this study was to document the clinical and demographic characteristics of the 20 most frequent users of emergency departments (EDs) in one urban area. We reviewed administrative records from three EDs and two agencies providing services to homeless people in Baltimore City. The top 20 users accounted for 2,079 visits at the three EDs. ⋯ Hypertension, HIV infection, diabetes, substance abuse, and alcohol abuse were the most common chronic illnesses. The most frequent ED users were relatively young, accounted for a high number of visits, used multiple EDs, and often received high triage scores. Homelessness was the most common characteristic of this patient group, suggesting a relationship between this social factor and frequent ED use.
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TheScientificWorldJournal · Jan 2012
Diffuse alveolar damage of the lungs in forensic autopsies: assessment of histopathological stages and causes of death.
Diffuse alveolar damage (DAD) is a morphological prototype of acute interstitial pneumonia. Hospital autopsies or open-lung biopsies are used to monitor common alveolar damage and hyaline membrane (HM) development histopathologically. The aim of this study was to detect histopathological profiles and frequency of DAD and HM in adult forensic autopsies. ⋯ The detection of all DAD morphological criteria with the same intensity is not always possible in each case. Forensic autopsies may provide a favourable means for expanding our knowledge about acute lung damage, DAD, and interstitial lung disease.
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TheScientificWorldJournal · Jan 2012
Increased NTPDase activity in lymphocytes during experimental sepsis.
We investigated in rats induced to sepsis the activity of ectonucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolase (NTPDase; CD39; E. C. 3.6.1.5), an enzyme involved in the modulation of immune responses. After 12 hours of surgery, lymphocytes were isolated from blood and NTPDase activity was determined. ⋯ Histological analysis showed several morphological changes in the septic group, such as vascular congestion, necrosis, and infiltration of mononuclear cells. It is known that the intracellular milieu contains much more ATP nucleotides than the extracellular. In this context, the increased ATPasic activity was probably induced as a dynamic response to clean up the elevated ATP levels resulting from cellular death.
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TheScientificWorldJournal · Jan 2012
ReviewBrain metastases research 1990-2010: pattern of citation and systematic review of highly cited articles.
High and continuously increasing research activity related to different aspects of prevention, prediction, diagnosis and treatment of brain metastases has been performed between 1990 and 2010. One of the major databases contains 2695 scientific articles that were published during this time period. Different measures of impact, visibility, and quality of published research are available, each with its own pros and cons. For this overview, article citation rate was chosen. ⋯ A large variety of preclinical and clinical topics achieved high numbers of citations. However, areas such as quality of life, side effects, and end-of-life care were underrepresented. Efforts to increase their visibility might be warranted.