OBJECTIVE To evaluate the possible effects of paraquat spraying among workers on deciduous fruit farms in the Western Cape, South Africa. Paraquat is a commonly used herbicide world wide and is a well documented cause of pulmonary fibrosis in studies of laboratory animals and in humans after exposure to a high dose (usually accidental or as parasuicide). The respiratory effects of long term, lo...

Non-apnoeic oxygen desaturation related to rapid eye movement (REM) sleep in a patient with hypothyroidism, obesity, respiratory failure, and cardiac failure was improved by treatment with nasal continuous positive airway pressure of 10 cm H2O.

Ictal hypoxemia has been reported in small series of cases and may contribute to sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP). We sought to determine the incidence and severity of ictal hypoxemia in patients with localization-related epilepsy undergoing in-patient video-EEG telemetry. We examined whether seizure-associated oxygen desaturation was a consequence of hypoventilation and whether fact...

BACKGROUND It is uncertain whether patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) given oxygen for symptom relief should be advised to use it before or after exertion. METHODS Eighteen patients with smoking related COPD who desaturated on exercise were given oxygen or air from a cylinder in a single blind manner and in an order determined by Latin square randomisation, before and ...

BACKGROUND Correction of exercise hypoxemia in advanced lung diseases is crucial and often challenging. However, oxygen-conserving devices have been introduced in the market with limited evidence of effectiveness. In the present study the efficacy of 2 oxygen-conserving devices, a pulse demand oxygen delivery (DOD) system and pendant reservoir cannula (PRC), were evaluated in subjects with COPD...

BACKGROUND Surgical revascularisation of the coronary arteries is a cornerstone of cardiothoracic surgery. Advanced age and the incidence of preoperative co-morbidity in patients presenting for coronary artery bypass graft surgery increases the potential for stroke and other perioperative outcomes. It is hypothesised that by using interventions during cardiac surgery to improve cerebral oxygena...

Objective: In this study, we aimed to investigate the incidence of cerebral desaturation and possible relationship between intraoperative postoperative complications. Methods: A prospective, observational study was performed 115 patients under 18 years age who required open heart surgery in a university hospital. Cerebral defined as 25% decrease saturation (low alarm limit) when compared with b...

Desaturation of [1-r4C]stearic acid, [lJ4C]palmitic acid, and [l-14C]stearoyl-CoA was measured in homogenates of lo-day-old rat brain. Desaturation was maximal with stearoyl-CoA at pH 6.0 to 6.6. With free fatty acids, monoene formation was maximal at pH 7.2 to 7.6; stearic acid was more actively desaturated than palmitic acid. Activity with stearic acid or stearoyl-CoA was linear with protein ...

PURPOSE A variety of hemodynamic and respiratory alterations accompany patients in the prone position; however the effect of the prone position on intraoperative cerebral saturation has not been studied. We sought to examine whether the incidence of cerebral oxygen desaturation in elderly patients (≥68 years of age) undergoing spine surgery in the prone position was more common than patients un...

BACKGROUND An unanticipated difficult airway during induction of anesthesia can be a vexing problem. In the setting of can't intubate, can't ventilate (CICV), rapid recovery of spontaneous ventilation is a reasonable goal. The urgency of restoring ventilation is a function of how quickly a patient's hemoglobin oxygen saturation decreases versus how much time is required for the effects of induc...