Pharmacological treatment of pulmonary oedema.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to J Carlet.
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In order to explain complement components abnormalities observed during septic shock, circulating immune complexes (C.I.C.) were searched for in sera from 34 patients with gram negative sepsis by two different methods: polyethylene glycol precipitation test based on physical properties of C.I.C. and C1q deviation test based on the property of radiolabelled C1q to react with C.I.C. Serum immunoglobulins (IgG, IgA, IgM) and complement components (C1q, C3, C4) levels were simultaneously determined. Seventeen patients with minimal haemodynamic abnormalities had normal or increased levels (except C4 at 62% of normal) and in eleven cases both tests for C.I.C. were simultaneously positive. Seventeen patients with severe septic shock had a decrease in IgG, IgM C1q, C3 and C4 and none had both tests for C.I.C. simultaneously positive (P less than 10(-4)). The disappearence of C.I.C. in patients with severe septic shock associated with evidence of complement activation suggests their involvement in the pathogenesis of septic shock in man.
In intensive care it is usual to give from between 3000 and 4500 calories. It seems that an intake of 1 gram of nitrogen for 150 to 200 calories from a non-protein source allows the optimal utilization of nitrogen. The advances made in the manufacture of nutritional mixtures and the techniques of administration often allow high calorie/protein intakes by the oral route alone. Small calibre silicone tubes which are perfectly tolerated are now available. They avoid naso-pharyngeal, oesophageal and pulmonary complications, and there is no reflux. Continuous oral feeding usually given by a pump improves gastric tolerance, reduces the digestive secretions, and slows down the intestinal transit. Digestion and absorption are improved. This technique, as well as the new tubes, allows comatose patients to be fed without any risk. The use of refrigerated nutripompes avoids bacterial proliferation in the nutritional liquid, which can affect digestion. Furthermore these pumps reduce the work of the nurse. Various nutritional mixtures allow a high calorie intake despite the abnormal digestion in the patient. Complications of oral feeding are rare. Reactions of intolerance and the respiratory risks have been considerably reduced. Metabolic disorders can be easily avoided. Diarrhoea is the result either of bacterial proliferation or an error in administration. These complications are definitely less frequent and less serious than those of feeding by the intravenous route, and the precautions to be taken are much simpler. The method is also cheaper.
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Previous nuclear disease was found twice: Mc Ardle disease, dermatomyositis. Causative factors were: strenous exercise, hyperthermia, intoxication, influenza. Myalgias and/or myoedema was recorded in ten cases, associated with an hypovolemia of variable severity in eight. Oligo-anuria was observed in eight cases. The acute renal failure (ARF) was characterized by an increase in the serum creatinin more important than the rise in the blood urea and, in some cases, severe metabolic disturbances: hyperkaliema (6 cases), hypocalcemia (5 cases), hyperphosphatemia (5 cases) and hyperuricemia (5 cases). Diagnosis was made by the increase in sera of the muscles enzymes, specially the CPK and the search for myoglobinuria, positive during the first seven days. A complete recovery of renal function was observed in the nine survivors with a transient and moderate hypercalcemia in three. Three patients had persistant neuro-muscular deficiencies. Non traumatic rhabdomyolysis is not a rare cause of ARF and should be considered when the etiology of ARF is uncertain.
Septic shock associated with depressed myocardial function generally requires the use of catecholamine. Currently dopamine is often selected. Dobutamine is a newly developed catecholamine which has been shown to be of value in severe cardiomyopathic disease. The aim of this work was to determine the most appropriate drug by comparing haemodynamic responses to dopamine and dobutamine in 19 studies carried out in 11 patients with septic shock and heart failure. Cardiac index increased siliarly with dopamine and dobutamine (33%), as did stroke volume (respectively 26.4 and 25%). Arterial pressure increased by 17% with dopamine whereas it did not significantly change with dobutamine due to reduction in vascular resistance of 19%. Dobutamine decreased filling pressure, either right (14%) of left (28%) whilst they slightly but unsignificantly increased with dopamine. Pulmonary shunting increased more with dopamine (47%) than with dobutamine (16%), but PaO2 remained constant with both. Since septic shock is characterized by lowered arterial pressure and vasodilatation it is concluded that effects of dopamine on capacitance and resistance vessels make this drug more suitable. In addition it selectively increases renal blood flow. Nevertheless dobutamine could be appropriate, in case of very high filling pressures, severe peripheral vasoconstriction, marked pulmonary shunting and in some cases where dopamine becomes ineffective.
In 182 critically ill patients, after admission delayed hyersensitivity skin testing have been systematically performed with 3 antigens (tuberculin, candidin, varidase). Mortality in anergic patients was 55% while it dropped to 19% when at least one response was positive. A highly significant relationship was found between anergy and mortality (p less than 10(-5)) whether death was related to sepsis (p less than 10(-4)) or not (p less than 0.02). In patients with major sepsis, anergy was more frequent (38%) than in non septic patients (21%) (p less than 0.01). In 69 patients skin testing with phytohemagglutinin was performed. Seven out of 8 unresponsive patients were anergic and 5 died. The results suggest that in critically ill patients cellular immunity skin testing may early select high risk patients exposed to septic complication. In these patients several important measures should be promptly taken including superinfections prevention, adapted nutritional intake and septic focus eradication.
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A case of severe hypovolaemic shock related to idiopathic oedema was observed in a 37 year old woman. Large plasma volume expansion (nearly 12 1 over 9 hours) did not change the clinical status. Haemodynamic studies showed low cardiac index (1.1 1/min/m2), decreased left ventricular stroke work index (6.7 gm/m2), and high systemic arterial resistance (52 mmHg/1/min/m2). Dopamine infusion improved the haemodynamic condition which returned to normal 30 hours after the beginning of shock. After recovery, capillary permeability measured by a modification of Landis' method was markedly increased. A study of albumin metabolism showed a normal intravascular pool and a rapid exchange compartment with a twofold increase in slow exchange compartment. Hormonal levels and complement fractions were within normal limits. Serum protein immuno-electrophoresis showed an abnormal IgG. These results clearly demonstrate that hypovolaemia is related to increased capillary permeability and leakage of albumin out of the vascular space. When large infusions fail, inotropic agents, especially Dopamine, should be used in such cases.
This work aims at the evaluation of the effects of dobutamine in the effects of dobutamine in the treatment of septic shock and to compare them to the effects of dopamine used in the same conditions. Eleven patients presenting with both a state of septic shock and confirmed cardiac insufficiency were submitted to the protocol. The dosage was determined by the clinical results : 6.22 microgram/kg/min for dopamine and 4.2 to 25 microgram/kg/min for dobutamine. The results show that although the effect on cardiac output is comparable with the two drugs, some differences in their effects delineates their respective distinct indications. Indeed, although dobutamine seems less arythmic, lovers more the ventricular filling pressure and increases less the intra-pulmonary shunt, dopamine causes less reduction in the systemic resistance which in the case of septic shock seems more logical. Nevertheless dobutamine is perhaps easier to handle.
Calculations were made of the indices of ventricular performance during the ejectional phase in 10 patients with a normal left ventricle and in 24 patients with aortic aneurysm, both under basal conditions and in the presence of extrasystoles produced incidentally during left biplanar cineventriculography. The fact that these indices were constantly raised implies the presence of post-extrasystole potentiation associated with an increase in contractility without significant changes in load. This technique, which provides a dynamic study of the behavior of the left ventricle in aortic incompetence allows us to assess the contractile reserve, and thus to give a more accurate prediction of the potential for recovery after operation.
The haemodynamic status after valve replacement surgery and the preoperative haemodynamic parameters have been studied for their predictive value in a series of 217 patients who have had aortic, mitral or mitro-aortic valve replacements; all cases had a preoperative catheterisation, and 132 had a postoperative catheterisation at an average of 15 months postoperative. The following conclusions have been drawn from the study: 1. The operation (which consisted of replacement with a Starr valve with Silastein ball-valve in 8 cases out of 10) resulted in a substantial, and statistically significant, improvement in the minor circulation pressures and in the cardiac index. The ejection fraction also increases in most cases. 2. The increase in the cardiac index is significantly greater in aortic stenosis than in aortic incompetence, and in the aortic group than in the mitral group. 3. Improvement is early, and occurs within the first few weeks, in the aortic group; it occurs more gradually in the mitral group, in whom serial catheterisations show a gradual decrease in the pulmonary arterial and capillary pressure and an increase in the cardiac index which may be progressive until the second postoperative year. 4. Analysis of the mean values of the various parameters as a function of the clinical findings, and of the incidence of failures and early or late deaths from haemodynamic changes, has failed to show that the preoperative haemodynamic picture has a statistically significant predictive value.
TEM-7, a novel TEM-type beta-lactamase (pI 5.41) encoded on a plasmid of approximately 85 kilobases, was found in a clinical isolate of Citrobacter freundii. Strains containing this enzyme exhibited decreased susceptibility to ceftazidime (64-fold) and aztreonam (16-fold) but not to other third-generation cephalosporins. Addition of a beta-lactamase inhibitor--clavulanic acid, sulbactam, or YTR 830--restored normal susceptibility to associated compounds such as ampicillin, piperacillin, ceftazidime, and aztreonam. DNA-DNA hybridization of an intragenic probe of TEM-1 occurred with a 19-kilobase EcoRI fragment of the plasmid encoding TEM-7. A TEM-2 derivative, TEM-201, with characteristics similar to those of TEM-7 was selected spontaneously in the presence of ceftazidime in vitro.
We report a case of successful surgical revascularization of the superior mesenteric artery in a patient presenting with intestinal ischaemia due to fibrodysplasia. This is a rare pathology, with 5 cases operated in our institution and only 16 cases reported in the literature. Angiography may show other sites of arterial dysplasia. In such cases, success depends on early surgical revascularization.
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