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Biomedical subjects

G Reichle

Publications and source records attributed to G Reichle.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

[Survival and pattern of failure in palliative endobronchial HDR -- brachytherapy using iridium 192 in recurring bronchial carcinoma].

To evaluate the impact of palliative high dose rate brachytherapy on survival and a pattern of failure, we performed a matched pair study. 94 patients with tumor recurrence after external beam radiation received endobronchial brachytherapy. They were followed prospectively and matched retrospectively with 94 comparable patients who had not received brachytherapy. Matched parameters were age, gender, smoking behaviour, histology, tumor stage, EBRT-dose and fractionation. The leading cause of death in both groups was generalized tumor growth. In the combined therapy group, fatal hemorrage was 27.7 %, two and a half times higher than in the EBRT group with 10.6 %, whereas respiratory insufficiency in the brachytherapy group was 6.4 % and 11.7 % in the EBRT group. A complete remission after brachytherapy yielded a 10.5 months longer mean survival. Patients dying from fatal hemorrhage after endobronchial brachytherapy lived on average 10.2 months longer than matched EBRT patients dying from the same cause. Analyzing the time-course of fatal hemorrage in the brachytherapy group we conclude that - because of its early onset in the first 10 months after induction of therapy roughly 20 % of the deaths can be attributed to a radiation damage. In those patients who died after 10 months the major cause of fatal hemorrhage was the natural course of sqamous cell carcinoma with prolonged survival.

Brachytherapy↗
PubMed2001

[A new rigid bronchoscope with a measuring tube for pressure and capnometry].

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary gas exchange under jet ventilation is usually controlled by pulse-oxymetry and blood gas analysis. Capnometry is not common in clinical use. Rigid bronchoscopes with pressure measurements are not known. Our aim was the development of a rigid bronchoscope with a built-in tube for the online measurement of airway pressure and gas composition. METHODS: We measured the distribution of inspiratory pressure under jet ventilation over the length inside a 8 x 400 mm rigid bronchoscope in a lung model and in patients. A measuring tube was constructed for obtaining representative values of airway pressure and capnometry. Using a prototype of a new rigid bronchoscope with the built-in measuring tube (R. Wolf Company, Knittlingen, Germany) inspiratory pressure and expiratory CO2 were measured during interventional bronchoscopy. The measuring tube was connected to the pressure control port of the jet ventilator. We applied jet ventilation with frequencies of 10 to 12 pulses per minute. RESULTS: The inspiratory pressure reaches after 10 cm distally the instrumental port a significant constant plateau. Via the built-in measuring tube representative measurement of pressure and gas can be made there. The correlation between arterial CO2 (paCO2) and expiratory CO2 (petCO2) was excellent (r = 0.96). To maintain normocapnia in 25 patients undergoing interventional bronchoscopy, the jet pressure had to be adjusted to values between 0.5 and 3.5 bar (median 2.5 bar). The responding inspiratory pressure varied from 3 to 25 mbar (median 15 mbar). A flexible bronchoscope in the working channel raises the airway pressure from 18 to 23 mbar. The automatic interruption of the jet-pulses by connecting the measuring tube to the pressure control port of the ventilator in order to prevent a barotrauma was found feasible. CONCLUSIONS: Simultaneous online control of airway pressure and gas is possible with the new rigid bronchoscope. Pressure depending jet ventilators can be controlled via the measuring tube to minimise the risk of barotrauma.

Airway Resistance↗
PubMed2000

[Argon plasma coagulation in bronchology: a new method--alternative or complementary?].

Argon plasma coagulation (APC) is a thermal coagulation technique that uses ionized argon to transmit high-frequency electrical current, contact free, to tissue. APC has been used in surgery for more than 20 years, particularly for the hemostasis of superficial bleeding. Although APC has become well established in gastrointestinal endoscopy since its introduction in 1991, very few reports of its use in bronchoscopy exist to date. From June 1994 to June 1998, 364 patients (80 women, 284 men), 88% with a confirmed malignant tumor, were treated prospectively in a total of 482 sessions. The single most common indication was recanalization of malignant airway stenoses (186 patients). The defined therapy objective was achieved with good results in 67% of patients. More than 90% of interventions were performed with rigid bronchoscopy. Despite less penetration compared with Nd:YAG laser, extensive bronchial tumors were treatable, in which coagulated tumor fractions were removed either with forceps or bronchoscope tip. The second indication was bleeding in the central airways (119 patients). Acute hemostasis was achieved in 118 patients, 20% in whom the flexible technique under local anesthesia was used. In 34 patients, APC was successfully used to recanalize occluded stents. Rare indications included benign endobronchial tumor, fistula conditioning before fibrin adhesion, and the treatment of scar tissue stenosis. Summarizing all complications, a rate of 3.7% "per treatment" was recorded. Two patients died within 24 hours; their deaths were not directly related to APC. APC is an effective and safe technique for the treatment of bronchologic tumor ablation and hemostasis and can be used with local anaesthetic with flexible bronchoscopy or rigid bronchoscopy with general anesthesia. Compared with Nd:YAG laser, APC is an economic alternative technique offering more effective hemostasis. Furthermore, APC is of particular value as a compliment to well-known techniques, increasing the options in interventional bronchoscopy.

Airway Obstruction↗
PubMed1996

[Experiences with fluorescence diagnosis and photodynamic therapy in a multimodality therapy concept of operated, recurrent bronchial carcinoma].

Even of those few patients who are operated because of bronchial cancer up to a quarter develop a recurrence. One reason is certainly that tumor-cells already present at the time of surgery are bronchoscopically invisible. Fluorescence methods might be able to detect these malignant cells. For patients with post-surgical recurrences the therapeutical choices are limited due to the loss of parenchyma. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) with the hematoporphyrine derivative Photofrin is one laborious but promising option. Based on an argon-dye laser we have developed a combined system for the diagnostical measurement of autofluorescence and Photofrin-induced fluorescence at 488 nm and the therapeutical PDT at 630 nm. Under the excitation with blue light from the argon laser, differences in the autofluorescence of malignant and benign cells can be distinguished. Following the injection of Photofrin a spectrum peak at 628 nm clearly delineates tumor cells. In six out of twelve patients with post-surgical recurrences a single PDT course resulted in tumor eradication. With additional PDT courses and brachytherapies local tumor control could be achieved in all cases. The general photosensitivity and the necessary light protection were tolerated by all patients. In order to avoid severer complications such as asphyxia, obstruction of bronchi and pneumotharaces resulting from fibrin-plugs and necrotic tissue following PDT must be considered. Especially in patients with pneumonectomy a careful surveillance and debridement is mandatory.

Aged↗
PubMed1993

The role of ultrasound assisted thoracoscopy in the diagnosis of pleural disease. Clinical experience in 687 cases.

Ultrasonic examination is an established method used to differentiate between solid and liquid structures in the pleural space. It can estimate the volume of a pleural effusion and demonstrate whether the effusion is associated with loculations or adhesions. It is complementary to thoracoscopy. In the diagnosis of pleural disease ultrasonic-assisted thoracoscopy should only be used when the less invasive methods of diagnosis such as pleural aspiration for cytological, bacteriological and chemical examinations and needle biopsy of the pleura have not yielded a diagnosis. Although thoracoscopy is a relatively invasive procedure, it has the advantages of speed and accuracy in the diagnosis of pleural disease. This procedure is not widely used as it requires specialized instruments and equipment and may be time-consuming. The latter disadvantage may be minimized by the use of prior pleural sonography. The ultrasonic examination will indicate the optimal point of entry of the thoracoscopy to avoid adhesions. In order to evaluate feasibility, complications and clinical results in ultrasonic-assisted thoracoscopy, we investigated 687 patients with pleural diseases from 1987 to 1990. As prior induction of a pneumothorax under X-ray control was not necessary, the 20-30 min required for this procedure was saved in all patients. Very few complications were attributable to ultrasonic-assisted thoracoscopy as it could normally be performed under local anesthesia. A macroscopic diagnosis was made in 80% of malignant diseases and 77% of inflammatory diseases in our total of 687 thoracoscopies. The diagnosis of a malignant pleural effusion was confirmed histologically and cytologically in 95% of those 190 patients in whom it was present.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗
PubMed1993

[Thoracic bilateral myelolipoma].

Diagnostics, histogenetic derivatives and determination of the mediastinal neoplasms can still be problematic today despite the use of CT and MRT. Although the exact location and determination of neoplasmic density help to reduce the differential diagnostic spectrum in some cases, in the case of a 50-year old patient it was only via thoracoscopy and the taking of specimens that the diagnosis of a bilateral paravertebral crescent-shaped tumour of the posterior mediastinum as a rare myelolipoma could be obtained. Formal and causal pathogenesis of myelopomas are referred to in this paper with special reference to the clinical and pathologico-anatomical findings.

Biopsy↗
PubMed1992

[Conservative therapy of malignant pleural effusion].

The nonsurgical treatment of malignant pleural effusion is palliative in principle. This aim must be achieved with a minimum of side effects and risks to the patients. Before treatment, a clear histologic diagnosis must be made. Thoracoscopy offers a fast and safe result with a more than 90% reliability. Systemic cytotoxic treatment and local procedures are available. Using pleurodesis, talkum is clearly superior to tetracycline in achieving a very low recurrence rate. The median survival in 287 patients was 9 months.

Chemotherapy, Adjuvant↗