Oxygen desaturation occurs during sleep in severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), especially during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, due to hypoventilation and ventilation-perfusion mismatching, but the possible contribution of airflow limitation is unclear. In a randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind study of severe, stable COPD patients, the authors compared 4 weeks treatme...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of acetazolamide on cerebral blood flow (CBF) and cerebral metabolic rate for oxygen (CMRO2). CBF, arterial and jugular venous partial O2 pressure, partial CO2 pressure, pH, and O2 saturation percentage were measured in six patients before and 3 and 20 minutes after intravenous administration of 1 g of acetazolamide. CBF was measured by the intra...

The impact of forearm blood flow limitation on muscle reflex (metaboreflex) activation during exercise was examined in 10 heart failure (HF) (NYHA class III and IV) and 9 control (Ctl) subjects. Rhythmic handgrip contractions (25% maximal voluntary contraction, 30 contractions/min) were performed over 5 min under conditions of ambient pressure or with +50 mmHg positive pressure about the exerci...

Background: The purpose of our study was to evaluate an inexpensive and available method to reduce mucous impactions in mechanically ventilated patients.Methods: This randomized clinical trial was conducted on 40 mechanically ventilated patients aged 15-90 years. The patients were randomly allocated into two arms; 20 cases and 20 controls. The cases received N-acetylcysteine via their nebulizer...

  Objective: Several medications have been used for sedation in children in dentistry and intra-nasal route has been reported to be an efficient way regarding patient cooperation. The aim of the present study was to compare the changes in physiologic parameters following intra-nasal midazolam and ketamine administration.   Methods: In this randomized cross-over double-blind trial, 17 uncooperat...

A 31 year-old female with Trisomy 21, uncorrected complete atrioventricular septal defect (AVSD) and consequent Eisenmenger syndrome presented to our emergency department with dyspnea, hypoxia, and worsening cyanosis. She was found to be hemodynamically stable with a heart rate of 70 bpm and blood pressure of 100/60. There was no pulsusparadoxus. She was notably cyanotic, platypneic, and hypoxi...

A patent foramen ovale (PFO), present in ∼40% of the general population, is a potential source of right-to-left shunt that can impair pulmonary gas exchange efficiency [i.e., increase the alveolar-to-arterial Po2 difference (A-aDO2)]. Prior studies investigating human acclimatization to high-altitude with A-aDO2 as a key parameter have not investigated differences between subjects with (PFO+) o...

BACKGROUND The pathogenesis of obstructive sleep apnoea/hypopnoea syndrome (OSAHS), a highly prevalent disease, is not completely understood. The purpose of this study was to investigate the contributions of Th17 cells and the Th17-associated cytokines IL-17A and IL-17 F to OSAHS. METHODS 46 male patients with a clinical suspicion of OSAHS were enrolled and divided into four groups based on t...

If the diffusive component of O2 transport in muscle is important in determining exercise capacity, an increased capillary-to-tissue PO2 difference should enhance gas exchange from blood to skeletal muscle during exercise. Thus a rightward shift in the O2 dissociation curve should theoretically increase O2 extraction and improve maximal O2 uptake (VO2 max). To test this hypothesis, we used the ...