Assessment of Didactic Transesophageal Echocardiography Education During Anesthesia Residency.

BACKGROUND: Transesophageal echocardiography can be a useful monitor during noncardiac surgery, in patients with comorbidities and/or undergoing procedures associated with substantial hemodynamic changes. The goal of this study was to investigate if transesophageal-echocardiography-related knowledge could be acquired during anesthesia residency. METHODS: After institutional review board approval, a prospective observational study was performed in two anesthesiology residency programs. After a 41-week didactic transesophageal-echocardiography-education curriculum residents' exam scores were compared to baseline. The educators' examination was validated against the National Board of Echocardiography's Examination of Special Competence in Advanced Perioperative Transesophageal Echocardiography. RESULTS: After the 41-week course, clinical anesthesia (CA)-3 exam scores increased 12% compared to baseline (P = .03), CA-2 scores increased 29% (P = .007), and CA-1 scores increased 25% (P = .002). Pearson correlation coefficient between the educators' exam score and the special competence exam percentile rank was 0.69 (P = .006). Pearson correlation coefficient between the educators' exam score and the special competence exam scaled score was 0.71 (P = .0045). CONCLUSIONS: The 41-week course resulted in significant increases in exam scores in all 3 CA-classes. While didactic knowledge can be learned by anesthesiology residents during training, it requires significant time and effort. It is important to educate residents in echocardiography, to prepare them for board examinations and to care for the increasingly older and sicker patient population. Further work needs to be done to determine optimal methods to provide such education.

Steroid-Mediated Decrease in Blood Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Liver Transplant could Impact Long-Term Recovery.

Orthotopic liver transplant (OLT) remains the standard of care for end stage liver disease. To circumvent allo-rejection, OLT subjects receive gluococorticoids (GC). We investigated the effects of GC on endogenous mesenchymal stem (stromal) cells (MSCs) in OLT. This question is relevant because MSCs have regenerative potential and immune suppressor function. Phenotypic analyses of blood samples from 12 OLT recipients, at pre-anhepatic, anhepatic and post-transplant (2 h, Days 1 and 5) indicated a significant decrease in MSCs after GC injection. The MSCs showed better recovery in the blood from subjects who started with relatively low MSCs as compared to those with high levels at the prehepatic phase. This drop in MSCs appeared to be linked to GC since similar change was not observed in liver resection subjects. In order to understand the effects of GC on decrease MSC migration, in vitro studies were performed in transwell cultures. Untreated MSCs could not migrate towards the GC-exposed liver tissue, despite CXCR4 expression and the production of inflammatory cytokines from the liver cells. GC-treated MSCs were inefficient with respect to migration towards CXCL12, and this correlated with retracted cytoskeleton and motility. These dysfunctions were partly explained by decreases in the CXCL12/receptor axis. GC-associated decrease in MSCs in OLT recipients recovered post-transplant, despite poor migratory ability towards GC-exposed liver. In total, the study indicated that GC usage in transplant needs to be examined to determine if this could be reduced or avoided with adjuvant cell therapy.

Sevoflurane provides earlier tracheal extubation and assessment of cognitive recovery than isoflurane in patients undergoing off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether sevoflurane, because of its lower blood/gas partition coefficient, compared with isoflurane as the primary anesthetic agent, allows earlier tracheal extubation and assessment of cognitive function after off-pump coronary artery bypass (OPCAB) surgery. DESIGN: Prospectively, patients were randomly assigned to receive sevoflurane or isoflurane as their primary anesthetic. Intraoperative opioids were limited to 5 microg/kg of fentanyl. SETTING: Two university hospitals with active cardiac surgery programs. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred one OPCAB surgery patients who met inclusionary and exclusionary criteria participated with institutional review board approval. INTERVENTIONS: Mini-Mental Status Examination, Memory Recall Test, and Observer Assessment of Anxiety and Sedation scales were administered preoperatively, postextubation, at 90 minutes, and between 12 to 24 hours. Pain scores were obtained every 15 minutes after extubation for 90 minutes. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Sevoflurane patients were extubated earlier than isoflurane patients (Sevo, 176 +/- 217 minutes and Iso, 257 +/- 279 min, p = 0.02). Although both agents produced similar postanesthetic cognitive profiles, cognitive testing occurred approximately 90 minutes earlier in the sevoflurane group. Verbal rating scale for pain scores >5 were more frequent for sevoflurane than isoflurane patients (p = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: Both sevoflurane and isoflurane may be safely used as maintenance agents in OPCAB. Sevoflurane has the advantage of allowing earlier extubation and evaluation of cognitive and neurologic function after OPCAB.