AIM To investigate the effects of inotropic agents on parameters of tissue perfusion in patients with cardiogenic shock. METHODS AND RESULTS Thirty patients with cardiogenic shock were included. Patients received dobutamine, enoximone, or norepinephrine. We performed hemodynamic measurements at baseline and after titration of the inotropic agent until cardiac index (CI) ≥ 2.5 L.min-1.m(-2) or...

nurse specialist at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle, Wash. lengths in the red and infrared spectra through an optical fiber to illuminate the blood. The red blood cells absorb various amounts of light depending on the amounts of oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin that are present. The light reflected by the blood cells is transmitted through a second optical fiber to the photodetector, wh...

Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) has been adopted as a means of strong respiratory support. In lung transplantation, reimplantation response is still a serious problem. It causes severe respiratory failure which is refractory to mechanical ventilation in some cases. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of veno-venous ECMO after lung transplantation using a canine auto...

The use of epinephrine in septic shock remains controversial. Nevertheless, epinephrine is widely used around the world and the reported morbidity and mortality rates with it are no different from those observed with other vasopressors. In volunteers, epinephrine increases heart rate, mean arterial pressure and cardiac output. Epinephrine also induces hyperglycemia and hyperlactatemia. In hyper...

Pulmonary artery (PA) mixed venous saturation (SvO2) has become a crucial monitor in the adult intensive care unit, but is not used in neonates because of the difficulty in PA catheterization. We evaluated the possibility of utilizing the right atrial venous oxygen saturation (RAvO2), which is easily accessed in the neonate, as a monitor of the effects of mechanical ventilation and intravascula...

Background To examine the effects of co-administration of sildenafil and inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) in patients with out-of-proportion pulmonary hypertension who underwent cardiac valve replacement surgery. Methods and Results Twenty consecutive cardiac surgery patients with out-ofproportion pulmonary hypertension were randomized postoperatively into two groups: group A received 10ppm of iNO fo...

BACKGROUND Continuous intravenous treatment with epoprostenol significantly improves pulmonary haemodynamics and survival in patients with primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH). Its beneficial effect, however, may be blunted due to adverse effects such as catheter sepsis and systemic hypotension. Recent investigations have shown that inhaled iloprost is effective in the treatment of PPH. Based o...

We aimed to validate the mathematical validity and accuracy of the respiratory components of the Nottingham Physiology Simulator (NPS), a computer simulation of physiological models. Subsequently, we aimed to assess the accuracy of the NPS in predicting the effects of a change in mechanical ventilation on patient arterial blood-gas tensions. The NPS was supplied with the following measured or c...

This prospective study included 32 patients undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) for elective coronary artery bypass grafting correlates the respiratory end-tidal CO2 (ETCO2) during partial separation from CPB with cardiac output (CO) following weaning from CPB. After induction of general anesthesia, a pulmonary artery catheter was inserted for measurement of cardiac output by thermodilution...

Patients with septic shock and respiratory failure often require hemodynamic monitoring in order to guide bedside management. This is particularly true of patients with dialysis-dependent chronic kidney disease, who may be less tolerant of large volume resuscitation than individuals with normal renal function. With the declining use of pulmonary artery catheters and the introduction of early go...