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Biomedical subjects

S C Sørensen

Publications and source records attributed to S C Sørensen.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

Acupuncture and bronchial asthma.

Seventeen patients with stable bronchial asthma were randomly assigned to receive either correct acupuncture or placebo acupuncture. The study lasted 11 weeks and consisted of a pre-therapy, therapy, and post-therapy period. The patients received 10 treatments during a 5-week period. The effect of therapy on pulmonary function was assessed daily by the patients at home. Morning and evening peak expiratory flow rate, number of puffs beta 2-agonist aerosol needed, as well as subjective symptoms of asthma were recorded in a diary. The correctly treated group improved significantly throughout the study. Also, compared with the placebo group, a significant improvement was found in all assessed parameters 2 weeks after beginning therapy. Hereafter, no differences could be shown.

Acupuncture Therapy↗

Colloid osmotic and hydrostatic pressures in chronic subdural haematomas.

Intracranial pressure (ICP) has been measured in eight patients with chronic subdural haematomas (CSH) for 24 hours prior to and for 24 hours following evacuation of the haematomas. In all patients ICP was increased prior to surgery (mean: 23 mm Hg), and it rose again to the preoperative level following evacuation of the haematomas in spite of disappearance of most symptoms and signs. In two of these patients and in another eight patients with CSH, colloid osmotic pressures were measured in samples obtained simultaneously from haematoma fluid and venous blood during surgery. The colloid osmotic pressure in haematoma fluid varied considerably between patients (lowest: 11.8 mm Hg, highest: 60 mm Hg), and thus the difference between colloid osmotic pressures in haematoma fluid and plasma also varied considerably. We suggest that the increased ICP in patients with CSH is the consequence of an increased resistance to absorption of cerebrospinal fluid due to compression of the underlying subarachnoid space. The findings with regard to colloid osmotic pressures suggest that osmotic gradients may be maintained across the boundaries of a chronic subdural haematoma.

Adult↗

Absence of an effect of naloxone on ethanol intoxication and withdrawal reactions.

Experimental and clinical results suggest a relationship between the action of ethanol and opiates. Therefore, we have tested whether the specific morphine antagonist naloxone (2 mg/kg intraperitoneally every six hours) affects signs of severe ethanol intoxication or modifies the withdrawal syndrome following chronic ethanol intoxication in rats. Using a double blind technique, we did not find any difference between saline treated and naloxone treated animals with respect to level of intoxication and severity of withdrawal symptoms. We must therefore conclude that naloxone does not modify signs of severe ethanol intoxication or change the ethanol withdrawal syndrome in the rat. These findings do not rule out that there might be a biochemical link between actions of ethanol and opiates, but this link is probably not localized at the level of specific drug receptor interaction.

Alcoholic Intoxication↗

Intracranial pressure and conductance to outflow of cerebrospinal fluid in normal-pressure hydrocephalus.

Forty patients with clinical evidence of normal-pressure hydrocephalus were studied by monitoring intraventricular pressure during a 24-hour period, and by a lumboventricular perfusion test for measurement of the conductance to outflow of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). The purpose of the study was to investigate whether there is a relationship between intraventricular pressure and conductance to outflow of CSF, and whether it is possible to use the results from pressure monitoring in the selection of patients who may be expected to benefit from shunting therapy. The conductance to outflow was used as an evaluation factor in the selection of patients to be treated by a shunt. The conductance to CSF outflow differed by twelvefold between the lowest and highest values. The level of resting intraventricular pressure was within normal limits in all patients. Accordingly, there was no evidence of a relationship between conductance to outflow and intraventricular pressure. So-called B-waves were seen more frequently in patients with decreased conductance to outflow, but were also present in patients with high conductance to outflow. Therefore, the presence of B-waves does not imply a low conductance to outflow of CSF.

Adult↗

Cerebrospinal fluid conductance and compliance of the craniospinal space in normal-pressure hydrocephalus. A comparison between two methods for measuring conductance to outflow.

Conductance to outflow of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) has been measured by both a lumboventricular perfusion and a bolus injection method in 24 patients with normal-pressure hydrocephalus. One purpose was to investigate whether the less time-consuming technique of bolus, injection gave results comparable to the results obtained by the lumboventricular perfusion technique. There was a poor correlation between the results obtained by the two measurements of conductance to outflow of CSF. It is concluded that the bolus-injection technique cannot substitute for the lumboventricular perfusion test. Compliance of the CSF space was measured by the bolus injection. The presence of B-waves, recorded from long-term intraventricular pressure monitoring, could be correlated to the sum of conductance to outflow and compliance. The correlation offers a possible explanation of the nature of B-waves.

Aged↗

Theoretical considerations on the potential hazards of hyperventilation during anaesthesia.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effect of hyperventilation on cerebral oxygenation. The best estimate of cerebral oxygenation is cerebral venous PO2 (PVO2). PVO2 has been considered in relation to PaCO2 during normoxaemia. In order to compare the effects of hyperventilation with the effects of hypoxaemia, PVO2 has also been considered in relation to PaO2 when PaCO2 is constant. The results indicate that the low PaCO2 values which may be seen in the operating room with manual ventilation have the same effect on cerebral oxygenation as severe hypoxaemia. It is emphasized that the brain is better protected against threats to cerebral oxygenation, e.g. hypotension, if PaCO2 is kept close to normal during anaesthesia. During neurosurgical anaesthesia the advantages of excessive hyperventilation must be weighed against the threat it poses to oxygenation in healthy areas of the brain.

Anesthesia↗