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Biomedical subjects

R A Strickland

Publications and source records attributed to R A Strickland.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

Anesthesia, cardiopulmonary bypass, and the pregnant patient.

For the perioperative management of pregnant patients with severe cardiac or aortic disease who require a cardiac surgical procedure and cardiopulmonary bypass, a close, cohesive, working relationship must exist among several medical and surgical specialties. For appropriate management, the well-being of both the mother and the fetus must be considered. The best interests of the mother and the fetus may not coincide, and optimal therapy for one may be inappropriate for the other. We present 10 cases of severe cardiac or aortic disease in pregnant women who required surgical intervention. Eight patients underwent cardiopulmonary bypass during pregnancy, and two patients had cesarean section performed immediately before cardiopulmonary bypass. We also discuss the pertinent pharmacologic aspects related to the perioperative period and the management of cardiopulmonary bypass for the pregnant patient.

Adolescent

Assessment of prediction of mortality by using the APACHE II scoring system in intensive-care units;.

Some investigators have suggested that information on quality of care in intensive-care units (ICUs) may be inferred from mortality rates. Specifically, the ratio of actual to predicted hospital mortality (A/P) has been proposed as a valid measure for comparing ICU outcomes when predicted mortality has been derived from data collected during the first 24 hours of ICU therapy with use of a severity scoring tool, APACHE II (acute physiology and chronic health evaluation). We present a comparison of mortality ratios (A/P) in four ICUs under common management, in two hospitals within a single institution. Significant differences in A/P were detected for nonoperative patients (0.99 versus 0.67;P = 0.014) between the two hospitals. This variation was traced to uneven representation of a subset of patients who had chronic health problems related to diseases that necessitated admission to the hematology-oncology or hepatology service. No differences in A/P were seen between the two hospitals for operative patients or for nonoperative patients on services other than hematology-oncology or hepatology. Thus, differences in A/P detected by using the APACHE II system not only may reside in operational factors within the ICU organization but also may be related to weaknesses in the APACHE II model to measure factors intrinsic to the disease process in some patients. We suggest that case-mix must be examined in detail before concluding that differences in A/P are caused by differences in quality of care.

Diagnosis-Related Groups

Calcium does not augment phenylephrine's hypertensive effects.

Ca and phenylephrine, both of which increase mean arterial pressure (MAP), are often administered concurrently during resuscitation of critically ill patients. To determine whether the response to phenylephrine is potentiated by Ca administration, we studied eight adult patients 24 h after aortocoronary bypass surgery. Each patient received three doses of phenylephrine (150, 300, and 450 ng/kg.min), administered both with and without CaCl2 (5 mg/kg bolus followed by a 2-mg/kg.h infusion). Phenylephrine alone at 150, 300, and 450 ng/kg.min increased MAP by 2%, 6%, and 17%, respectively. Ca alone increased serum ionized Ca levels from 1.00 +/- .03 (SEM) to 1.20 +/- .02 mM (p less than .05) and increased MAP from 84 +/- 1 to 90 +/- 2 mm Hg (p less than .05), but had no effect on cardiac index (CI). When administered concurrently with Ca, phenylephrine at 150, 300, and 450 ng/kg.min increased MAP by 6%, 7%, and 13%, respectively. Phenylephrine had no effect on CI, pulmonary capillary wedge pressure, CVP, or heart rate whether or not it was administered with Ca. We conclude that concomitant Ca administration does not augment the hypertensive response to phenylephrine in normotensive patients recovering from open heart surgery.

Aged

Calcium attenuates epinephrine's beta-adrenergic effects in postoperative heart surgery patients.

Epinephrine and calcium possess both cardiac inotropic and vasopressor activity. In addition, epinephrine's cardiovascular effects are mediated via increases in intracellular calcium. As a result, many clinicians administer the two agents together in an attempt to augment their effects. Although this approach seems rational, it has never been proven effective. We evaluated the cardiovascular and hyperglycemic actions of epinephrine (10 and 30 ng/kg/min), with and without calcium chloride administration (10 mg/kg bolus followed by 2 mg/kg/hr infusion), in a prospective, randomized, blinded, crossover designed study. Twelve adult patients were studied 1 day after aortocoronary bypass surgery. Calcium chloride raised ionized calcium levels from 1.06 +/- 0.03 (mean +/- SEM) to 1.44 +/- 0.05 mM (p less than 0.05). Calcium raised mean arterial pressure from 85 +/- 1 to 94 +/- 2 mm Hg (p less than 0.05) but had no significant effect on cardiac index. Epinephrine alone at 10 and 30 ng/kg/min significantly raised cardiac index from 2.7 +/- 0.2 to 3.0 +/- 0.2 (p less than 0.05) and 3.6 +/- 0.3 (p less than 0.05) l/min/m2. After calcium, epinephrine failed to significantly increase cardiac index. Epinephrine at 30 ng/kg/min significantly increased mean arterial pressure from 87 +/- 1 to 95 +/- 2 mm Hg (p less than 0.05). After calcium, epinephrine had no significant effect on blood pressure. In addition, epinephrine's hyperglycemic effect was blunted by calcium. Plasma epinephrine levels were similar during control and calcium infusions. We conclude that calcium blunts epinephrine's beta-adrenergic actions in postoperative cardiac surgery patients.

Blood Glucose

Bedside analysis of arterial blood gases and electrolytes during and after cardiac surgery.

Intraoperative changes in arterial blood gas tensions and serum electrolyte concentrations may contribute to the development of arrhythmias and cardiovascular insufficiency. Rapid intraoperative assessment of these parameters may improve patient care by permitting earlier treatment of abnormalities. We evaluated a portable blood gas and electrolyte analyzer in six patients undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery. Evaluation by anesthesia personnel took place in the operating room. The analyzer produced rapid, accurate, and reliable data that were comparable to clinical laboratory data. Correlation coefficients between the analyzer and laboratory determinations for PaO2, PaCO2, pH, K+, Ca++, and hematocrit were all greater than 0.92. Large changes in circulating ionized calcium (18%) and potassium (38%) concentrations were noted during cardiac surgery. Bedside blood gas and electrolyte analyzers represent a new technology worthy of further evaluation.

Blood Gas Analysis

Comparison of two formulas to calculate alveolar oxygen tension in canine oleic acid pulmonary edema.

Alveolar oxygen tension (PAO2) is calculated by either of two mathematical formulas incorporating various respiratory variables. The first formula, Equation 1, assumes a constant RQ of 0.8; the second formula, Equation 2, uses the mixing equation and requires analysis of inspired, mixed expired, and end-tidal gas samples. We tested the consistency of these formulas before and after asymmetric oleic acid pulmonary edema, then calculated and compared venous admixture values using the PAO2 value derived from each formula. Before oleic acid, Equations 1 and 2 were similar (213 +/- 22 vs. 211 +/- 22 [SD] torr, respectively), as were venous admixture values (8.7 +/- 2.9% vs. 8.5 +/- 2.9%, respectively). After oleic acid injury, Equation 1 was significantly lower than Equation 2, thus slightly but consistently underestimating venous admixture (29.9 +/- 12.2% vs. 30.2 +/- 12.3%; p less than .01). However, the venous admixture values obtained after oleic acid injury calculated from Equations 1 and 2 correlated closely (r2 = .998; p less than .001), and the clinical differences yielded by the two formulas would be minimal. We recommend using the simpler formula (Eq. 1) when calculating PAO2.

Animals

Bedside blood gas and electrolyte monitoring in critically ill patients.

A major advantage of near-patient testing is time savings that facilitate important diagnostic and therapeutic decisions. Recent technologic advances have made available a number of systems that allow for near-patient testing. The reliability of these instruments must be validated in the clinical setting in the hands of their intended users. We evaluated the Gemstat blood gas, electrolyte, and Hct portable analyzer in the critical care setting when used by numerous individuals with no previous laboratory training. Blood gas, Na, K, and Hct results were highly correlated with those from the clinical laboratories (PaO2, r = .96; PaCO2, r = .92, pH, r = .96; Na, r = .93; K, r = .95; Hct, r = .91). The Gemstat represents a new generation of portable, rapid, safe, and accurate instruments that are well suited for ICU settings. The instrument can facilitate clinical management of patients, and may improve patient care.

Blood Gas Analysis

Hypothermia with and without end-expiratory pressure in canine oleic acid pulmonary edema.

An important goal in managing patients with respiratory failure using mechanical ventilatory support and positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) is to optimize tissue oxygen delivery relative to oxygen consumption. To this end, systemic hypothermia has been reported to reduce oxygen consumption. Cooling, however, may antagonize hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction and depress cardiac output. To determine whether these potentially adverse effects of cooling on tissue oxygen delivery would outweigh any potential benefits, we studied the effects of systemic hypothermia and end-expiratory pressure on venous admixture, intrapulmonary blood distribution, and oxygenation variables in 40 dogs with oleic acid-induced pulmonary edema of the right lung. The dogs were randomly assigned to four treatment groups of 10 dogs each: normothermia and zero end-expiratory pressure (ZEEP); normothermia and 10 cm H2O PEEP; hypothermia and ZEEP; hypothermia and PEEP. Hypothermia to 31.9 +/- 0.1 degree C (mean +/- SEM) caused no adverse effects on intrapulmonary blood flow distribution (measured by radioactive microspheres) or on venous admixture. Tissue oxygen delivery and arterial oxygenation did not improve with hypothermia, the latter being 109 +/- 13 mm Hg and 70 +/- 8 mm Hg with PEEP and ZEEP, respectively. However, hypothermia significantly reduced oxygen consumption, so that the coefficient of oxygen delivery (i.e., the ratio of oxygen supply to consumption) increased from 2.5 +/- 0.1 to 3.2 +/- 0.2 (p less than 0.01) with ZEEP and from 2.0 +/- 0.1 to 2.6 +/- 0.3 with PEEP (p = 0.016). Thus, although systemic hypothermia failed to improve arterial oxygenation and tissue oxygen delivery, it decreased systemic oxygen demands, thereby improving the oxygen supply-demand balance.

Animals