Despite the widespread clinical appliciktion of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), the mechanism responsible for blood flow during this maneuver remains undefined, although it has been assumed that blood is squeezed from the heart by direct compression of the sternum. We studied the hemodynamics of CPR in 15 arrested dogs. During chest compression, pressures in the left ventricle, aorta, righ...

Introduction. The presence of T-wave alternans (TWA) has been shown to correlate with a higher risk for sudden cardiac death. The mechanism of TWA may be related to abnormalities in intracellular calcium handling, which is a mechanism in heart failure and associated arrhythmias as well. However, an association between TWA and cardiac volume status has not been demonstrated. Methods Used. We rep...

It has been shown in scattered reports (1, 2, 3, 4) from this laboratory that sudden changes of intrathoracic and abdominal pressure such as occur in coughing and straining produce simultaneous changes in the arterial pressure and in cerebrospinal pressure. It was argued that whereas these pressure changes may strain the arteries of the arms, legs and skin, the more vital arteries of the thorac...

A neurilemmoma (Schwannoma) of the left intrathoracic vagus nerve was discovered on a chest radiograph of a 28 yr old woman and was removed via a left thoracotomy. Although neurogenic tumours are the most common tumours of the mediastinum, they rarely involve the intrathoracic vagus nerve.

Background Subclavian and axillary arteries true aneurysms are rarely seen. The best incision for surgical approach is median sternotomy for intrathoracic right subclavian artery aneurysm, left thoracotomy for intrathoracic left subclavian artery aneurysm and supraclavicular incision for extrathoracic ones. Many surgeons approaches as subclavicular incision, subclavicular incision extending to ...

Management of intrathoracic foregut duplication cysts has traditionally involved a thoracotomy. Recently thoracoscopic approaches have been successfully described in the management of this condition. We describe the first laparoscopic transhiatal approach to the management of an intrathoracic duplication cyst in the pediatric population.

Restriction of total lung capacity (TLC) is found in some obese subjects, but the mechanism is unclear. Two hypotheses are as follows: 1) increased abdominal volume prevents full descent of the diaphragm; and 2) increased intrathoracic fat reduces space for full lung expansion. We have measured total intrathoracic volume at full inflation using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in 14 asymptomati...