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Biomedical subjects

M L Rhodes

Publications and source records attributed to M L Rhodes.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

Relationship between arterial and venous bicarbonate values.

We determined the clinical efficacy of using the venous CO2 value, as obtained with routine "electrolytes", in acid-base management. Venipuncture samples for venous CO2 content and chloride concentrations were obtained in 336 patients with arterial blood pH, PaO2, PaCO2, and oxygen saturation determinations. The linear correlation between actual calculated arterial HCO3- and the measured venous CO2 was significant (P less than .001). Using venous CO2, chloride, and arterial pH values, we present various prediction equations for estimating arterial HCO3-. We determined the effects of time delay, exposure to air, and acute changes in arterial blood pH and PaCO2 on venous CO2 levels. Venous CO2 determinations should not be substituted for the arterial HCO3 value in the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation to calculate arterial blood pH or PaCO2. Clinically, the venous CO2 value has little direct use, but when venous CO2 content is abnormal, it should alert the clinician to the need for obtaining arterial blood gas and pH values.

Acid-Base Imbalance

Chronic intravenous infusion in the rat: a nonsurgical approach.

A rapid, simplified technique of intravenous catheterization of the unanesthetized rat was developed for continuous infusion. A 19-gauge thin-walled needle was inserted percutaneously into the dilated tail vein, and polyethylene tubing was advanced through the needle into the vein. The catheter was protected by wire mesh electrical sheathing taped securely to the tail. This approach eliminated the need for anesthesia and surgery which were traumatic to the animal and time consuming for the investigator. This method was used successfully in 32 rats given continous infusion for up to 5 days.

Animals

An effect of paraquat on the lungs of rabbits. Its implications in smoking contaminated marihuana.

Thirty-six rabbits received the herbicide, paraquat (1,1'-dimethyl-4,4'-dipyridylium dichloride), by selective intrabronchial instillation in doses ranging from 0.1 gm to 1 pg. Sixteen additional rabbits were given paraquat dichloride (25 mg/kg of body weight) intraperitoneally, subcutaneously, intravenously, or orally. The lung of the rabbit proved to be highly sensitive to paraquat administered by intrabronchial deposition, moderately sensitive to intravenously administered paraquat, and resistant to the chemical when given intraperitoneally or subcutaneously. One picogram of paraquat dichloride delivered by bronchial catheter produced a 1.0-mm pulmonary lesion consisting of focal hemorrhage, congestion of capillaries, intra-alveolar macrophages, and moderate thickening of the alveolar septa. This finding suggests that pulmonary damage could potentially result from smoking marihuana that has been sprayed with paraquat.

Administration, Oral

Transbronchial biopsy via flexible fiberoptic bronchoscope; results in 164 patients.

The diagnostic accuracy and complication rate of transbronchial forceps lung biopsy combined with bronchial brushing were analyzed in 164 consecutive patients, of whom 95 had nonmalignant disease and 51 had malignant disease. Eighteen patients with abnormal chest radiographs had normal transbronchial forceps lung biopsies and no established diagnosis. Satisfactory specimens were obtained in 153 patients (93 per cent), with diagnositc accuracies of 62, 64, and 67 per cent, respectively, in infectious, interstitial, and malignant lung disease. The over-all diagnostic accuracy was 57 per cent. Seven patients were diagnosed as having metastatic carcinoma to the lung by transbronchial forceps lung biopsy, but brush biopsy was psoitive in only 3. Of the 23 patients with primary lung carcinoma diagnosed by transbronchial forceps lung biopsy, 21 had positive brush biopsies. An additional 3 patients with bronchogenic carcinoma, however, were diagnosed only by brush biopsy. Fluoroscopy was essential for accurate positioning of the biopsy instrument. Increased risk factors were present in 83 patients (51 per cent), among whom the immunosuppressed group presented special problems. Significant bleeding in 15 patients (9 per cent) was controlled by conservative management. Pneumothorax occurred in 7 patients (4 per cent). There were no deaths. Transbronchial forceps lung biopsy in experienced hands is safe and well tolerated. The physician, nevertheless, must be prepared to handle major complications, especially bleeding. The procedure has a resonable diagnostic yield in high-risk patients who have a variety of lung lesions.

Adolescent

Hypoxic protection in paraquat poisoning.

Ingestion or injection of the herbicide paraquat (1,1'-dimethyl-4,4'-dipyridylium dichloride) has caused more than 120 deaths in humans. Most have been due to respiratory failure caused by pulmonary edema, hemorrhage, and atelectasis, or subsequent pulmonary fibrosis. Paraquat is concentrated in lung tissue and is believed to cause superoxide radical formation in the presence of oxygen and suitable electron donors. Exposure to increased concentrations of oxygen has been reported to accelerate the toxicity of paraquat. The therapeutic efficacy of a reduced oxygen environment was investigated by exposing paraquat-poisoned mice to 10% oxygen after stepwise drops from 14% oxygen. Sixty-one mice were given intraperitoneal injections of 27 mg. per kg. of paraquat. The 25 mice in hypoxia for 7 days had a 32% mortality rate versus a 78% mortality rate for the remainder of the mice in room air, p less than 0.01. After a dose of 20 mg. per kg. of paraquat administered intraperitoneally, 24 mice in hypoxia had a 25% mortality rate versus 51% for 35 animals in room air. Brief exposures of the hypoxic group to "normoxia" (room air) led to pulmonary edema and death. The continuous exposure of paraquat-poisoned animals to hypoxic environments was protective. This approach may be useful in other oxidant lung injuries.

Animals

Light and immunofluorescent study of the Arthus reaction in the rabbit lung.

A localized Arthus reaction was produced in the lung of sensitized rabbits by delivery of antigen into a lower lobe bronchus using a method of selective bronchial catheterization under fluoroscopy. The rabbits were sensitized with bovine immunoglobulin G (B-IgG) in incomplete Freund's adjuvant (IFA) to produce precipitating antibody without classic delayed hypersensitivity. Pulmonary histopathology was studied at intervals following antigen challenge, using light and immunofluorescent microscopy. Gross lesions peripheral to the lower lobe bronchus receiving antigen were found within 12 hr. Subsequent necrosis resulted in a dense scar by 6 wk. Microscopically, early lesions were typified by localized bronchitis, bronchiolitis, alveolitis, and vasculitis with exuberant exudates containing predominantly polymorphonuclear leukocytes. Extensive focal necrosis was present by 72 hr. Immunofluorescent studies revealed the presence of B-IgG, rabbit IgG, and complement (C3) in and around bronchi, bronchioles, alveoli, and vessels. No granulomatous lesions were found, and proliferation of alveolar lining cells was not detected in these studies. Thus, the lung can participate in an acute Arthus reaction following local antigen challenge in systemically sensitized animals. The pathology more closely resembles a necrotizing bacterial pneumonia than an interstitial or hypersensitivity pneumonitis under the conditions of this experimental system. Implications for human disease are speculative.

Animals

Foreign body removal: a new role for the fiberoptic bronchoscope.

Artificial and animal lung models initially were used to investigate the removal of foreign bodies from the tracheobronchial tree with the flexible fiberoptic bronchoscope. Different extraction instruments (claw, basket, forceps, and balloon catheter) were passed separately through the channel of the bronchofiberscope, and tested for usefulness prior to human application. The Fogarty balloon catheter served as a valuable aid in dislodging impacted objects so that the operator could then grasp them with the claw, basket or forceps. The wire claw recovered many of the metallic and organic objects, the wire basket was successful in retrieving only the bulky objects and the forceps (ACMI) was effective in capturing all of the metallic foreign bodies. These techniques, developed in our laboratory, are now being used to augment rigid bronchoscopy in the removal of foreign bodies from adults and older children. At the present time fiberoptic foreign body removal is not recommended for pediatric cases because of the small diameter of the trachea and glottis in infants and young children.

Adult