Pregnancy and delivery are a potentially lethal combination in a patient with primary pulmonary hypertension. There are controversies regarding mode of delivery. Cesarean section is considered to be associated with extensive perioperative risks. We report on a parturient with severe pulmonary hypertension who underwent a succesful semiemergent cesarean section on vital indication. Vaginal delivery was excluded since her cervix was too immature for succesful induction. This is the first reported case of its kind to receive an epidural anesthesia with ropivacaine with its potential advantage of a low cardiac toxicity. The epidural was slowly and carefully titrated to give a stable anesthesia with good quality.
Two different priming solutions for the heart-lung machine were compared in 14 patients during aortic valve replacement. Colloid osmotic pressure (COP), and albumin in plasma, blood erythrocyte volume fraction (B-EVF) and arterial oxygen tension (PaO2) (FIO2 = 1.0) were followed before, during and after perfusion. The two priming solutions were 2,000 ml Ringerdex (7 patients) or 1,800 ml Ringerdex + 200 ml 20% albumin (7 patients). COP and B-EVF were normal before bypass. After 10 min on bypass, when about 1,000 ml of crystalloid cardioplegic solution had been given, COP was reduced by about 50% and B-EVF fell to 23%, indicating a small loss of water from the circulation when compared with in vitro dilution curves. COP was slightly lower in the non-colloid group (p less than 0.02). Both COP and B-EVF remained unchanged during perfusion, despite transfusion from the heart-lung machine of a mixture of blood and crystalloid solution with a calculated very low COP (6 mmHg) and B-EVF (15%). After perfusion the restitution of COP and B-EVF was rapid and parallel. Both returned to normal levels after 2 hours. There was a good correlation between COP and albumin measured in the same plasma samples (r = 0.83, p less than 0.001). At one hour after bypass PaO2 (FIO2 = 1.0) tended to decrease in the non-colloid group, compared with preperfusion level. 40 g of albumin was a too small amount of colloid to diminish substantially the reduction of COP during perfusion. The unchanged levels of COP and B-EVF during perfusion, despite further dilution as well as the parallel normalization after perfusion, can only be explained by loss of water from the circulation.
Morphine, meperidine and ketobemidone used in continuous i.v. infusion for postoperative pain relief were compared in a double-blind, controlled, prospective study in 81 consecutive consenting adult patients after open-heart surgery, with permission from the hospital ethics committee. During the first postoperative period, the infusion rates were fixed. Later on, when the infusion rate could be regulated according to individual patient needs, the variation in infusion rate was large, in accordance with earlier studies. No significant differences were demonstrated between the three analgesics with respect to efficacy of analgesia or side effects like shivering, nausea or vomiting. Respiratory depression following extubation was not observed. During shivering, there was a significant increase in the arterio-mixed venous difference of oxygen in all groups. The amounts of opioids used were relatively small compared to amounts used in patients following abdominal surgery. When interviewed some days after surgery, 18/74 patients remembered moderate pain and 11 severe pain during the stay in the ICU.
To evaluate the hemodynamic effect of glucose-insulin-potassium administered during cardiopulmonary bypass grafting (CABG), i.v. infusion of glucose 0.5 g, insulin 1.35 IU and potassium 0.25 mmol/kg b.w/hour was begun after induction of anesthesia and continued until aortic cross-clamping in seven patients. Seven controls underwent CABG without such infusion. The left ventricular ejection fraction was measured after i.v. injection of Tc-99m-HSA before and at termination of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), in conjunction with invasive measurements to obtain left ventricular pressure-volume indices at end-systole and end-diastole. Three-step transfusion from the oxygenator was given before and after CPB in order to assess left ventricular contractility during volume-load, using the end-systolic pressure-volume index. Left ventricular contractility remained unchanged after CPB in the patients given glucose-insulin-potassium but decreased significantly in the controls. The left ventricular passive diastolic properties were unchanged after the ischemic period in both groups. The arterial glucose concentration rose markedly in the infused group (7.3-18.5 mmol/l) and moderately (6.4-8.2) in the controls. Glucose-insulin-potassium infusion thus favorably influenced left ventricular function during CABG by preventing decrease in contractility after CPB.
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