ABSTRACT
High thoracic epidural anaesthesia has recently been proposed to perform surgical revascularisation with arterial grafts in awake patients. However, in high-risk patients with associated co-morbidity it is not always possible to perform complete arterial revascularisation. A technique which combines thoracic epidural and selective lumbar subarachnoid block is described, allowing harvesting of saphenous vein and complete surgical revascularisation in awake patients.
Subject(s)
Anesthesia, Spinal/methods , Awareness , Coronary Artery Bypass, Off-Pump/methods , Coronary Disease/surgery , Aged , Anesthesia, Epidural , Humans , Lumbar Vertebrae , Male , Saphenous Vein/transplantation , Thoracic VertebraeABSTRACT
Kaposi's sarcoma appeared on a chronically lymphedematous leg of a 75-year-old man. Immunologic investigations revealed a lack of cellular immune response confined to the involved lower limb. Regional disorders of immune surveillance are thought to play an important role in the early stages of Kaposi's sarcoma.