The Utility of Echocardiography for the Prediction of Spinal-Induced Hypotension in Elderly Patients: Inferior Vena Cava Assessment Is a Key Player.

OBJECTIVES: To prospectively assess the diagnostic performance of echocardiographic measurements before spinal anesthesia in elderly patients undergoing lower limb surgery. Emphasis was placed on the dIVCmax-to-IVCCI ratio and IVCCI, where dIVCmax was the maximum diameter of inferior vena cava (IVC) at expiration and IVCCI was the collapsibility index of IVC. DESIGN: Open cohort, prospective, single-center study. SETTING: University hospital. INTERVENTIONS: A transthoracic echocardiography examination was performed in 70 patients before spinal anesthesia under standard criteria and protocol. Patients with intraoperative mean arterial pressure ≤65 mmHg or ≥25% reduction of its preoperative baseline were considered hypotensive. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Preoperative echocardiographic measurements, including IVCCI, dIVCmax-to-IVCCI, ejection fraction, global longitudinal peak systolic strain, tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion, ratio of peak velocity flow in early diastole and average of peak velocities in early diastole of lateral and septal mitral annulus, stroke volume index, and left ventricle mass index were assessed. Twenty-eight of 70 patients manifested spinal-induced hypotension. Preoperative dIVCmax-to-IVCCI showed the greatest diagnostic performance among the indices. dIVCmax-to-IVCCI <43 had significantly higher diagnostic power than did IVCCI >0.3 (p = 0.032). Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that the best predictors for spinal-induced hypotension were the dIVCmax-to-IVCCI ratio and age. CONCLUSIONS: The preoperative dIVCmax-to-IVCCI ratio can predict spinal-induced hypotension greater than IVCCI and other echocardiographic measurements in elderly patients. Both dIVCmax-to-IVCCI ratio and patient age can act as predictors of spinal-induced hypotension in elderly patients.

A Novel Test, the Sternomental Distance Ratio, Used as a Predictor of Difficult Laryngoscopy in a Normal Population and in Thyroid Tumor Surgery Patients: A Preliminary Study.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present preliminary study was to assess whether the sternomental distance ratio (SMDR) could be suitable as a predictor of difficult laryngoscopy, in both normal surgical patients and patients scheduled to undergo thyroid tumor surgery. METHODS: Two hundred and twenty-one consecutive adult patients (among them 122 patients with presumed normal airways and 33 patients with thyroid tumors), scheduled to undergo elective surgery under general anesthesia, were included in this study. Physical and airway characteristics, SMDR, difficult laryngoscopy (using Cormack-Lehane scale) and any kind of assisted intubation were assessed. RESULTS: Decreased SMDR demonstrated a strong correlation with difficult laryngoscopy in both thyroid tumor (Kendall's tau-b -0.578 (P=0.004) and normal patients -0.362 (P<0.001). Difficult laryngoscopy was 0 at SMDR>1.9 and 33% at SMDR <1.55 (P<0.001). The higher the SMDR was, the better the glottic view obtained. CONCLUSIONS: ? SMDR>1.9 indicates an easy laryngoscopy, whereas SMDR <1.55 indicates a difficult one in both thyroid tumor and normal patients. SMDR is an objective test to assess difficult airway in thyroid surgery.

Sternomental Distance Ratio as a Predictor of Difficult Laryngoscopy: A Prospective, Double-Blind Pilot Study.

BACKGROUND: No single test has shown to be an accurate predictor of difficult laryngoscopy. AIMS: This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the ratio of the sternomental distance (SMD) in neutral and full neck extension position SMD ratio (SMDR) as a predictor of difficult laryngoscopy and any need of assisted intubation. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: Prospective, double-blind pilot study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study included 221 consecutive adult patients scheduled to undergo elective surgery under general anesthesia. Physical and airway characteristics, SMDR, difficult laryngoscopy (using Cormack/Lehane [C/L] scale), and any kind of assisted intubation were assessed. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: The optimal cutoff point for SMDR was identified using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. The association between SMDR and the intubation method was evaluated through multiple logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: A SMDR below 1.55 led in 33% of the cases to assisted intubation and 33%-53% of C/L III-IV glottic views for McCoy and Macintosh blades, respectively. On the other hand, SMDR above 1.9 led to no C/L IV glottic views for both blades and 4% and 11% C/L III views glottic views for McCoy and Macintosh, respectively. The best sensitivity and specificity cutoff point as defined by the ROC curve was identified for an SMDR value of 1.7 (area[s] under the curve: 0.815; 95% confidence interval: 0.743-0.887). Assisted intubation rates were significantly higher in patients with an SMDR inferior to 1.7 (30.5% compared to 3.5%, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: SMDR is a simple, objective, and easy to perform test. The present study indicates that SMDR may be helpful in predicting difficult laryngoscopy and assisted intubation.