To the Editor: An important study by Savilampi et al.1 demonstrating the rate of pulmonary aspiration in adults undergoing monitored anesthesia care with remifentanil was recently published in AneStheSiology. There is an important limitation of the study worth considering when interpreting the study results. The method of aspiration detection does not differentiate between pharyngeal-to-pulmona...

BACKGROUND Stroke is one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide and apart from being exceedingly harmful in diabetics, stroke is a disabling disorder. The study was undertaken to describe the clinical characteristics, outcome pattern and predictors of mortality in a cohort of diabetic patients presenting with stroke in two tertiary health facilities in North Western Nigeria. ...

Swallowing is divided into four distinct phases involving five cranial nerves and 26 muscles and requires coordination of motor, neural, cognitive, and behavioral processes (Lee-Chiong, 1998; Mikita & Callahan, 2008). An abnormality in any of the nerves, muscles, or processes can result in ineffective swallowing or gastroesophageal reflux. As a result, saliva and ingested materials (e.g., food,...

OBJECTIVES Some patients with deliberate drug poisoning subsequently have an adverse clinical course. The present study aimed to examine whether the type of drugs ingested and psychiatric diagnoses were related to an adverse clinical course. METHODS We conducted a cohort study of patients with deliberate drug poisoning admitted to the intensive care unit of a university hospital located in To...

We present a case of large-volume barium aspiration in a 56-year-old woman with stage IV tongue squamous cell carcinoma and longstanding dysphagia. The patient rapidly developed hypoxemic respiratory failure from the resultant chemical pneumonitis. However, her respiratory status improved with supportive care alone in 48 hours. Barium aspiration is rare and often produces dramatic radiographic ...

Dr Obiora et al have presented some interesting data. One could quibble about the validity of the nested case-control model, but this issue is important mainly in identifying the fact that the patients were not individually assessed, nor were their particular variables, apart from the ones of interest, benzodiazepines and pneumonia, taken into consideration. Part of the randomness was accounted...