PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

Antonio Braschi

Publications and source records attributed to Antonio Braschi.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

Inhaled nitric oxide therapy in adults: European expert recommendations.

BACKGROUND: Inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) has been used for treatment of acute respiratory failure and pulmonary hypertension since 1991 in adult patients in the perioperative setting and in critical care. METHODS: This contribution assesses evidence for the use of iNO in this population as presented to a expert group jointly organised by the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine and the European Association of Cardiothoracic Anaesthesiologists. CONCLUSIONS: Expert recommendations on the use of iNO in adults were agreed on following presentation of the evidence at the expert meeting held in June 2004.

Administration, Inhalation↗

The surgical patient with Brugada syndrome: a four-case clinical experience.

Brugada syndrome is characterized by a distinctive electrocardiographic pattern (right bundle branch block and ST segment elevation in precordial leads) and a high risk of cardiac arrest for malignant dysrhythmia. The genetic basis is a molecular defect of the cardiac sodium channel and the pattern of inheritance is autosomal dominant. Many factors during general anesthesia (medications, bradycardia, temperature changes) could precipitate malignant dysrhythmia in these patients. Because criteria to identify the surgical patient at high risk for developing malignant dysrhythmia are lacking, we can only speculate about the available studies on nonsurgical patients. We describe four patients during general anesthesia and propose intraoperative and postoperative monitoring (the first 36 h).

Adult↗

The need for inotropic drugs in anesthesiology and intensive care.

The management of the failing heart represents an increasingly frequent challenge to both anesthesiologists and intensive care physicians, due to the increased prevalence of ventricular dysfunction in the population and to the ever-expanding indications for the surgical treatment of cardiac disease. Inotropic drugs are nowadays invaluable therapeutic tools in the treatment of perioperative heart failure and of the different forms of heart failure found in intensive care unit clinical practice. Postoperative myocardial dysfunction is a major concern in the setting of cardiac surgery since it is extremely frequent and is related to a greater morbidity and mortality. The different forms of heart failure, the rationale and the indications for the use of inotropic drugs in anesthesiology and intensive care are discussed in this review.

Anesthesiology↗

Noninvasive cardiac output assessment during heart surgery.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the reliability of a new noninvasive method for the assessment of cardiac output with the partial carbon dioxide rebreathing technique. METHODS: This technique was applied to patients undergoing heart surgery. Values of cardiac index obtained with this equipment were compared with the artero-venous CO2 gradient, a reliable index of cardiovascular status. Positive and negative predictive values of the test were assessed. RESULTS: A total of 21 simultaneous measurement of the cardiac index and of the artero-venous CO2 gradient were obtained. The positive predictive value of the test was 67% while the negative predictive value was 100%, indicating that a normal value of cardiac index recorded with the rebreathing technique predicts with a good reliability a normal cardiovascular state. CONCLUSIONS: Working through a series of mathematical algorithms, accuracy in the computation of cardiac output can be decreased with this equipment; however, this limitation seems to be outweighed by the simplicity and noninvasive nature of the methods.

Algorithms↗