Articles: function.
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Corticomotor excitability has been shown to correlate with motor learning and functional recovery. The aim of the present study was to monitor changes in excitability of the corticomotor pathways induced by neck training and to compare the effects in patients with neck or knee pain and pain-free participants. ⋯ Neck training reduced neuroplastic responsiveness of corticomotor pathways in neck pain patients in contrast to knee pain patients and pain-free participants. Increased attention to adaptive and maladaptive neuroplastic responses induced by training may prove valuable in the process of optimizing clinical outcomes.
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Multicenter Study
Predictors of Functional Outcome after Intraoperative Cardiac Arrest.
Few outcome data are available about intraoperative cardiac arrest (IOCA). The authors studied 90-day functional outcomes and their determinants in patients admitted to the intensive care unit after IOCA. ⋯ By day 90, 45% of IOCA survivors had good functional outcomes. The main outcome predictors were directly related to IOCA occurrence and postcardiac arrest syndrome; they suggest that the intensive care unit management of postcardiac arrest syndrome may be amenable to improvement.
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Critical care medicine · Sep 2014
Arterial Blood Pressure and Neurological Outcome After Resuscitation From Cardiac Arrest.
Guidelines for post-cardiac arrest care recommend blood pressure optimization as one component of neuroprotection. Although some retrospective clinical studies suggest that postresuscitation hypotension may be harmful, and laboratory studies suggest that a postresuscitation hypertensive surge may be protective, empirical data are few. In this study, we prospectively measured blood pressure over time during the postresuscitation period and tested its association with neurologic outcome. ⋯ We found that time-weighted average mean arterial pressure was associated with good neurologic outcome at a threshold of mean arterial pressure greater than 70 mm Hg.
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We present the case of a 20-year-old woman with a history of hypoplastic left heart syndrome, D-transposition of the great arteries, and mitral/pulmonary valve atresia without surgical palliation, who was admitted with persistent atrial flutter/fibrillation and worsening cardiac function from amiodarone-induced thyrotoxicosis. Despite maximal medical therapy, she continued to have uncontrolled thyrotoxicosis and underwent successful emergent thyroidectomy under general anesthesia. With advances in the treatment of congenital heart disease, more patients are surviving to adulthood and require emergent noncardiac surgery. Therefore, anesthesiologists must understand the principles for managing patients with congenital heart disease and how the patient's physiology may affect the anesthetic plan.
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Multiple studies have investigated the relationship between asbestos-related pleural plaques (PPs) and lung function, with disparate and inconsistent results. Most use chest radiographs to identify PPs and simple spirometry to measure lung function. High-resolution CT (HRCT) scanning improves the accuracy of PP identification. Complete pulmonary function tests (PFTs), including spirometry, lung volumes, and diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide, provide a more definitive assessment of lung function. The goal of this study was to determine, using HRCT scanning and complete PFTs, the effect of PPs on lung function in Libby vermiculite miners. ⋯ Asbestos-related PPs alone have no significant effect on lung function in Libby vermiculite miners.