Pulmonary capillary surface area in supine exercising humans: demonstration of vascular recruitment.

In exercising humans, cardiac output (CO) increases, with minor increases in pulmonary artery pressure (PAP). It is unknown if the CO is accommodated via distention of already perfused capillaries or via recruitment of nonconcomitantly perfused pulmonary capillaries. Ten subjects (9 female) performed symptom-limited exercise. Six had resting mean PAP (PAPm) <20 mmHg, and four had PAPm between 21 and 24 mmHg. The first-pass pulmonary circulatory metabolism of [3H]benzoyl-Phe-Ala-Pro (BPAP) was measured at rest and at peak exercise, and functional capillary surface area (FCSA) was calculated. Data are means ± SD. Mean pulmonary arterial pressure rose from 18.8 ± 3.3 SD mmHg to 28.5 ± 4.6 SD mmHg, CO from 6.4 ± 1.6 to 13.4 ± 2.9 L/min, and pulmonary artery wedge pressure from 14 ± 3.3 to 19.5 ± 5 mmHg (all P ≤ 0.001). Percent BPAP metabolism fell from 74.7 ± 0.1% to 67.1 ± 0.1%, and FCSA/body surface area (BSA) rose from 2,939 ± 640 to 5,018 ± 1,032 mL·min-1·m-2 (all P < 0.001). In nine subjects, the FCSA/BSA-to-CO relationship suggested principally capillary recruitment and not distention. In subject 10, a marathon runner, resting CO and FCSA/BSA were high, and increases with exercise suggested distention. Exercising humans demonstrate pulmonary capillary recruitment and distention. At moderate resting CO, increasing blood flow causes principally recruitment while, based on one subject, when exercise begins at high CO, further increases appear to cause distention. Our findings clarify an important physiologic question. The technique may provide a means for further understanding exercise physiology, its limitation in pulmonary hypertension, and responses to therapy.

The Use of Ultrasound to Improve Axillary Vein Access and Minimize Complications during Pacemaker Implantation.

BACKGROUND: The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in the United States recommends the use of ultrasound (US) for central venous access to improve patient outcomes. However, in a recent publication, US is still underutilized for axillary vein access during pacemaker implantation. OBJECTIVE: We sought to describe a technique for US-guided axillary vein access during pacemaker implantation and to report complication rates and success rate. METHODS: Retrospective data collection included success rate and complications on all pacemaker implants by one operator since implementing the systematic use of US at our institution, from November 2012 to January 2015. For the last 59 cases, data were collected prospectively to include time of venous access and number of attempts. RESULTS: A total of 403 consecutive patients were included in the analysis. Two leads were implanted in 255 cases and one lead was implanted in 148 cases. The rate of successful US-guided access was 99.25%. There were no access-related complications. The average number of venipuncture attempts was 1.18 per patient. The average time to obtain venous access was 2.24 minutes including the time to apply the sterile US sleeve. CONCLUSION: The described technique has the potential to improve the success rate of axillary vein access and minimize complications during pacemaker implantation.

Hemodynamic stability after transitioning between endothelin receptor antagonists in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension.

BACKGROUND: Maintenance of a favourable hemodynamic profile is central to therapeutic success in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). There is little information about the safety of transitioning patients between oral therapies for PAH. Endothelin receptor antagonists (ERAs) have been a therapeutic mainstay in PAH, providing benefit to many patients. Three ERAs, bosentan, sitaxsentan, and ambrisentan have been approved for clinical use. Sitaxsentan was voluntarily withdrawn from the market in late 2010 resulting in the need to quickly transition a large number of stable patients. METHODS: We transitioned 30 clinically stable patients to either ambrisentan or bosentan. Patients underwent a right heart catheterization, measurement of serum N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), and assessment of functional class before changing ERA and again 4 months later. We present a retrospective analysis of those data. RESULTS: Of the 30 patients transitioned (15 to ambrisentan, 15 to bosentan), 23 had complete hemodynamic data. No significant change was observed in the groups in right atrial, mean pulmonary artery, and pulmonary artery wedge pressures, or in cardiac output, pulmonary vascular resistance, or NT-proBNP levels. There was no change in World Health Organization functional class. Four ambrisentan and 2 bosentan-treated patients reported fluid retention, and 3 bosentan-treated patients had elevation of hepatic transaminases. Two of the patients had a right atrial pressure increase of ≥5 mm Hg, and 4 had pulmonary artery wedge pressure increase of ≥5 mm Hg. CONCLUSIONS: Transitioning between ERAs in stable PAH patients does not result in hemodynamic or clinical deterioration during the first 4 months posttransition. A minority of patients have developed increased cardiac filling pressures.