Role of signal-averaged electrocardiography and ventricular late potentials in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have an increased risk for cardiac arrhythmias. Ventricular late potentials (VLP) on signal-averaged electrocardiography (SAECG) are associated with an increased risk for malignant ventricular arrhythmias. Our aim is to investigate the modifications of SAECG parameters and the presence of VLP as possible indicators of proarrhythmic substrate in patients with COPD. We prospectively enrolled 41 consecutive patients in the COPD group and 63 patients without any history of pulmonary disease, matched for age and hypertension history, in the control group. Pulmonary function tests, arterial blood gases, echocardiography, 24-hour Holter monitoring and SAECG were performed. We measured total filtered QRS duration (QRSf), duration of high frequency, low-amplitude signals < 40 V (HFLA40), and root mean square voltage in the last 40 ms (RMS40). VLP were considered if at least two of these parameters were abnormal. Results. We did not register any significant differences in QRSf, HFLA40 or RMS40 between the two groups. In the COPD group there was a non-significant higher percentage of patients with VLP in comparison with the control group. In the COPD patients we registered a significantly higher number of isolated premature ventricular beats and of combined complex ventricular arrhythmias, consisting of polymorphic PVC, couplets, triplets or nonsustained ventricular tachycardias. None of these arrhythmic parameters correlated with SAECG variables or with the presence of VLP. Conclusion. In COPD patients parameters measured on signal-averaged electrocardiography and ventricular late potentials analysis have little value in risk stratification for ventricular arrhythmias.

Multiple Intestinal Lymphoma.

Gastrointestinal tract is the most common location for extralymphonodular lymphomas. The small intestine is affected only in 9% of the cases. Intestinal lymphoma may have single or multiple location. This paper describes a case of multiple location in the small intestine of a non-Hodgkin B-cell in a 53 years old patient, who was initially diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia with pleurisy with E. coli, steeper on the right side, but the persistence of symptoms as fever, malaise, despite appropriate treatment, required further investigation. The CT exam observed fluid collection in the hypogastrium around a digestive loop. The patient underwent surgery, the intraoperative foundings being: a large mesenteric tumor - 5 cm in diameter, a terminal ileal mesenteric tumor, a mesenteric tumor - 6 cm in diameter, omentum with nodular formations, a tumor - 3.3/2.5.1 cm in the abdominal wall, pseudotumoral appendix. Segmental. enterectomy with entero-enterostomy, excision of mesenteric tumors, appendectomy and omentectomy were performed. Pathological diagnosis was non-Hodgkin marginal zone B-cell MALT type lymphoma of the small intestine with extension to the appendix, meso, omentum and abdominal wall. Postoperatively, the patient received chemotherapy for remission.

P Wave Signal-Averaged Electrocardiography in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

INTRODUCTION: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is associated with higher incidence of supraventricular arrhythmias. Atrial late potentials (ALP) detected by P-wave signal-averaged electrocardiography (SAECG) could be useful in detecting the patients at risk for supraventricular arrhythmias. Our objective was to assess the role of P-wave SAECG and ALP detection for arrhythmic risk evaluation of the patients with exacerbated COPD. METHODS: We prospectively included 45 patients with exacerbation of COPD and 58 age- matched patients with no history of pulmonary disease in a control group. We performed pulmonary function tests, arterial blood gases, echocardiography, 24-hour Holter monitoring and P-wave SAECG. We measured filtered P-wave duration (FPD), the root mean square (RMS) voltages in the last 40, 30 and 20 ms of the filtered P-wave (RMS 40, RMS 30 and RMS 20), the root mean square voltage of the filtered P-wave potentials (RMS-p), and the integral of the potentials during the filtered P-wave (Integral-p). ALP was defined as FPD > 132 ms and RMS 20 < 2.3 µV. RESULTS: Isolated atrial premature beats (APB) and supraventricular tachycardias (SVT) were more frequent in the COPD group. There were no significant differences between groups regarding the P wave SAECG parameters. In the COPD group none of the supraventricular arrhythmias was correlated with ALP or any P-wave SAECG parameters. CONCLUSIONS: The patients with acute exacerbation of COPD but no apparent cardiac disease have a higher incidence of supraventricular arrhythmias. P-wave SAECG analysis and ALP detection have little value in the arrhythmic risk evaluation of these patients.

Acute intermittent porphyria--diagnostic and treatment traps.

Acute intermittent porphyria (AIP) is a rare metabolic disease defined by mutations coding the deaminaze enzyme of porphobilinogen (PBGD). Porphyrias are somewhat misdiagnosed as a consequence of light symptoms in patients. Acute forms of porphyria can be life-threatening, so a correct diagnosis and an accurate treatment are highly important. The authors presented the case of a 38-years-old patient admitted for persistent abdominal pain that previously presented two generalized convulsive seizures. The diagnosis of AIP was established by the raised concentration of urinary porphyrins. Despite treatment with carbohydrates and hemines, the clinical picture of the patient worsened, with tetraplegia and severe respiratory failure. The patient died seven weeks after the initial presentation of the disease.

The safety and efficacy of sevoflurane anesthesia in infants and children with congenital heart disease.

UNLABELLED: We tested the hypothesis that sevoflurane is a safer and more effective anesthetic than halothane during the induction and maintenance of anesthesia for infants and children with congenital heart disease undergoing cardiac surgery. With a background of fentanyl (5 microg/kg bolus, then 5 microg. kg(-1). h(-1)), the two inhaled anesthetics were directly compared in a randomized, double-blinded, open-label study involving 180 infants and children. Primary outcome variables included severe hypotension, bradycardia, and oxygen desaturation, defined as a 30% decrease in the resting mean arterial blood pressure or heart rate, or a 20% decrease in the resting arterial oxygen saturation, for at least 30 s. There were no differences in the incidence of these variables; however, patients receiving halothane experienced twice as many episodes of severe hypotension as those who received sevoflurane (P = 0.03). These recurrences of hypotension occurred despite an increased incidence of vasopressor use in the halothane-treated patients than in the sevoflurane-treated patients. Multivariate stepwise logistic regression demonstrated that patients less than 1 yr old were at increased risk for hypotension compared with older children (P = 0.0004), and patients with preoperative cyanosis were at increased risk for developing severe desaturation (P = 0.049). Sevoflurane may have hemodynamic advantages over halothane in infants and children with congenital heart disease. IMPLICATIONS: In infants and children with congenital heart disease, anesthesia with sevoflurane may result in fewer episodes of severe hypotension and less emergent drug use than anesthesia with halothane.

The effects of inhaled nitric oxide on postoperative pulmonary hypertension in infants and children undergoing surgical repair of congenital heart disease.

UNLABELLED: The role of inhaled nitric oxide in the immediate post-bypass period after surgical repair of congenital heart disease is uncertain. In a controlled, randomized, double-blind study, we tested the hypothesis that inhaled nitric oxide (NO) would reduce pulmonary hypertension immediately after surgical repair of congenital heart disease in 40 patients with preoperative evidence of pulmonary hypertension (mean pulmonary arterial pressure [MPAP] exceeding 50% of mean systemic arterial pressure [MSAP]). Patients were then followed in the intensive care unit (ICU) to document the incidence of severe pulmonary hypertension. Of the patients, 36% (n = 13) emerged from bypass with MPAP > 50% MSAP. In these patients, inhaled NO reduced MPAP by 19% (P = 0.008) versus an increase of 9% in the placebo group. No effect on MPAP was observed in patients emerging from bypass without pulmonary hypertension (n = 23). Inhaled NO was required five times in the ICU, always in the patients who had emerged from cardiopulmonary bypass with pulmonary hypertension (5 of 13 [38%] versus 0 of 23). We conclude that, in infants and children undergoing congenital heart surgery, inhaled NO selectively reduces MPAP in patients who emerge from cardiopulmonary bypass with pulmonary hypertension and has no effect on those who emerge without it. IMPLICATIONS: In a randomized double-blind study, inhaled nitric oxide selectively reduced pulmonary artery pressures in pediatric patients who developed pulmonary hypertension (high blood pressure in the lungs) immediately after cardiopulmonary bypass and surgical repair.

Acute hypovolemia may cause segmental wall motion abnormalities in the absence of myocardial ischemia.

UNLABELLED: New segmental wall motion abnormalities (SWMA) detected by echocardiography are considered sensitive and specific markers of myocardial ischemia. However, we have observed new SWMA during pacing-induced reductions in left ventricular filling, which resolved immediately with cessation of the atrial pacing and simultaneous restoration of filling. Therefore, we designed this study to determine whether acute reduction in filling can induce new SWMA in the absence of ischemia. Institution of cardiopulmonary bypass was used as a clinical model of acute reduction in filling, and a beat-by-beat analysis of left ventricular contraction, filling, blood pressures, and electrocardiogram was performed when the drainage of blood to the cardiopulmonary bypass machine rapidly emptied the heart. Acute reduction in filling induced new SWMA in 4 of 38 study patients. All 4 patients had preexisting abnormalities of left ventricular contraction, but translocation of these preexisting SWMA did not explain the new SWMA, nor did myocardial ischemia. We conclude that acute reduction in left ventricular filling can cause new SWMA in the absence of ischemia. This finding limits the usefulness of new SWMA as a marker of ischemia in the presence of acute reduction in filling, such as that secondary to severe hypovolemia. IMPLICATIONS: This study documented that acute reduction in cardiac filling can be associated with new systolic wall motion abnormalities detected by transesophageal echocardiography in the absence of documented myocardial ischemia. These findings indicate that segmental wall motion may not be a valid marker for ischemia in the setting of acute hypovolemia.

Rapid atrial pacing for detecting provokable demand ischemia in anesthetized patients.

A stress test that can be performed intraoperatively might be valuable for cardiac risk stratification in patients needing urgent noncardiac surgery and for early evaluation of coronary reserve in patients undergoing aortocoronary bypass surgery. Therefore, we evaluated the sensitivity and safety of rapid atrial pacing combined with electrocardiography and transesophageal echocardiography for inducing and detecting provokable demand ischemia in 20 anesthetized patients with multivessel coronary artery disease. Rapid atrial pacing induced ST segment changes or new segmental wall motion abnormalities (SWMA), which were defined as evidence of induced ischemia in 15 of the 20 patients. Unexpectedly, the new SWMA normalized during the first beat after abrupt cessation of pacing in three patients who did not show any ST segment changes. Simultaneously, left ventricular preload was severely decreased during pacing and recovered to baseline immediately when pacing was abruptly discontinued. Rapid atrial pacing was safe in all patients, but the target heart rate could not be achieved because of heart block or arterial hypotension in 4 of the 20 patients. These findings raise the question of whether rapid atrial pacing is the most appropriate approach for inducing provokable demand ischemia in anesthetized patients. However, its potential usefulness for predicting adverse cardiac outcomes has not been evaluated and would require larger studies. In addition, the immediate normalization of new SWMA after abrupt cessation of pacing in some patients calls into question the validity of new SWMA as evidence of myocardial ischemia when left ventricular preload is severely decreased.

Detection of intraoperative segmental wall-motion abnormalities by transesophageal echocardiography: the incremental value of additional cross sections in the transverse and longitudinal planes.

Because biplane and multiplane transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) are more complex and expensive than single-plane TEE, we performed this study to determine whether the use of multiple single-plane (transverse) cross sections is as reliable for detection of left ventricular segmental wall-motion abnormalities (SWMA) as biplane TEE. We used biplane TEE to acquire nine standard cross sections of the left ventricle in 41 consecutive adults undergoing cardiac or vascular surgery. Six of these cross sections were in the transverse plane (i.e., achievable with single-plane TEE) and three in the longitudinal plane (i.e., achievable only with biplane or multiplane TEE). Each cross section was divided into myocardial segments for analysis. A total of 1810 segments were analyzed by independent investigators using a standardized evaluation system. Seventeen percent of all SWMA detected in this study were in the midpapillary transverse-plane cross section, an additional 48% in other transverse-plane cross sections, and 35% exclusively in the longitudinal-plane cross sections. Thus, most (65%), but not all, SWMA were in cross sections achievable with single-plane TEE. We conclude that the MP-T cross section should be the foundation for assessment of segmental function, but additional cross sections in the transverse and longitudinal planes are required for detection of the majority of segmental wall-motion abnormalities.

Hematologic manifestations of infection with the human immunodeficiency virus.

Selective tropism of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) for cells with CD4 receptors and especially for TH lymphocytes--key cells in hematopoiesis--has from the clinico-biologic point of view a great many hematologic manifestations of which knowledge is essential for a good diagnosis and treatment as well as for a judicious estimation of prognosis. Thus the study presents the hematologic entities specifically associated with HIV infection (such as ITP, NHML) as well as the hematologic entities associated with HIV infection without presenting a causal relationship with the latter. The study also discusses the quantitative and morphologic changes of peripheral blood and of bone marrow often enlightening for the disease and its complications. An important chapter in the study is devoted to the hematologic changes induced by the HIV infection therapy as well as by the manners of therapeutic approach to the complex hematologic problems raised by the disease.

Elderly, conscious patients have an accentuated hypotensive response to nitroglycerin.

There is no adequate explanation for the highly variable response of systemic blood pressure to nitroglycerin (glyceryl trinitrate [GTN]). Aging produces cardiovascular changes that should alter the effects of GTN, but elderly patients usually have been excluded from studies of GTN. Accordingly, the authors compared the effects of GTN on systemic blood pressure in elderly and younger patients. Fifty-three patients, aged 49-87 (with 30 patients older than 70), were studied. Before elective vascular surgery, 14 patients received an infusion of placebo; 26, a constant infusion of GTN; and 13, a stepwise increasing infusion of GTN. After a standardized anesthetic induction and the start of surgery, the identical infusion protocols were repeated in each group. Data on GTN infusion rate, arterial blood pressure, and GTN concentrations versus time, age, and other potentially influencing variables were pooled for analysis. Before anesthesia and surgery, GTN more commonly caused excessive hypotension in patients older than 70 yr than in younger patients, but none of the patients had complications. A repeated-measures model analysis indicated that age significantly influenced the effects of GTN on blood pressure. That is, patients who are in their 70s who receive 0.5 micrograms.kg-1.min-1 of GTN are predicted to experience a twofold greater decrease in systolic arterial pressure (approximately 33 mmHg) than patients in their 50s. However, no apparent effect of age on intraoperative GTN responsiveness was discernible nor was a predictable relationship found between the preoperative and intraoperative responsiveness or between arterial concentrations of GTN and blood pressure or age. Therefore, the authors conclude that, in the absence of the effects of anesthesia and surgery, elderly patients have a more pronounced blood pressure response to GTN than younger patients. Furthermore, the authors conclude that preoperative blood pressure responsiveness to GTN is not a reliable predictor of intraoperative responsiveness.

Pattern of antigens A and B distribution on the surface of AB group red blood cells--an argument in support of the concept of "genetic oscillation".

Using a mixture of mouse monoclonal antibodies anti red blood cell (RBC) AgA and human antibodies anti RBC AgB coupled to fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) conjugated goat antimouse monoclonal antibodies and to phycoerythrin (PE) conjugated goat antihuman monoclonal antibodies, we obtained the distribution of these antigens on the AB RBC surface. The analysis of 30 samples of 30,000-100,000 RBCs each was carried out using flow cytometry and revealed three kinds of AB RBC populations: (1) a population characterized by maximum concentration of AgA and minimum concentration of AgB; (2) a complementary population characterized by minimum concentration of AgA and maximum concentration of AgB; (3) an intermediary equilibrated population with about equal concentrations of the A and B antigens. This pattern corresponds to the pattern of oscillating genetic activity defined as "genetic oscillation", a concept amply discussed in the paper.

Normal blood cell values in groups of population from various geographic areas of Romania.

The aim of this work was to determine the normal values of erythro-, leuko-, and thrombocytes in several groups of population situated in various geographic areas (hills, plain, sea-side), considering that such data could be useful for the delimitation between the normal conditions and the near-normal ones. Sixteen hematologic parameters have been investigated in 2,053 healthy subjects, insisting particularly on those most frequently required in the clinic, i.e., erythrocytes/microliter, hemoglobin (g%), hematocrit (%), leukocytes/microliter, and thrombocytes/microliter. No significant differences related to the geographic areas were recorded. The normal values of the hematologic parameters are presented in separate tables.

Studies on the familial character of endemic Balkan nephropathy. Possible role of the toxic hydric factor in the determination of "familial agglomerations" in endemic Balkan nephropathy.

The study was carried out in an attempt to explain the familial character of endemic Balkan nephropathy and of agglomeration of cases in certain households and in the ascendency of certain families. The hypotheses of a genetic disease or that of an infectious etiology have been taken into consideration in previous studies - by chromosomal analyses and statistical-mathematic tests of contagiousness - without being able to find arguments in support of one or the other hypotheses. This study brings important elements in favour of the possible role of ecologic factors and mainly of the hydrictoxic one, in the determination of the familial agglomerations in endemic nephropathy. Thus using radionuclear determination methods, we could demonstrate in a locality of the endemic area that around the water sources with high content of nephrotoxic oligoelements (cadmium, chromium, manganese, cobalt) there are more diseased families than around water sources poorer in these oligoelements.

Albumin to creatinine ratios in early morning samples of urine from healthy persons and patients without clinical proteinuria.

Urinary excretion of albumin was determined in 133 clinically healthy subjects and 236 patients suffering from diabetes mellitus (150 cases), collagen diseases (45 cases), or arterial hypertension (41 cases) in whom there was no clinical or laboratory evidence of renal involvement. Urine albumin was measured by an improved single-radial-immunodiffusion technique and results were expressed as urine albumin to creatinine concentration ratio (mg/g). The geometric mean values in the patients were about 2 to 2.5 times higher than in controls. When considered on an individual basis, at least 40 per cent of the patients had values above the 99th-percentile value for controls. The results suggest that quantitative determination of urinary albumin may be useful for detecting early structural functional alterations of the glomerular filter.

An improved radial-immunodiffusion technique for measuring albumin in unconcentrated urine.

By exploiting the polymer-enhancing effect on the immunological precipitation, we have developed a highly sensitive, single radial-immunodiffusion (SRID) method for measuring albumin in urine. As little as 20 ng of albumin could be measured in a 4-microL sample of urine. Both within- and between-plate coefficients of variation were less than 5% over the range of albumin concentrations between 5 and 80 mg/L. Accuracy, as estimated from recovery studies, was also very good. The method is simple to perform and inexpensive (it requires only very small amounts of antiserum). The urinary albumin output, as determined on timed urine collections from 117 healthy persons (66 women and 51 men), ranged from 1.8 to 17.7 micrograms/min, with a geometric mean value of 6.8 micrograms/min (log SD = 0.1894). Based on the above-mentioned advantages of the method, we recommend it for routine use in clinical laboratories.

Study of lymphocyte reactivity in various stages of chronic liver disease following acute viral hepatitis.

Lymphocyte reactivity was studied in 210 subjects who had suffered from acute viral hepatitis, distributed into three lots according to the time-interval from the acute disease. The laboratory investigations included: study of the lymphocyte nucleolar apparatus (amount of nucleolar RNA, relative and absolute areas of lymphocyte nucleoli) and determination of the proportion of the rosette-forming B-cells. A marked increase of the nucleolar RNA amounts and of the B-cell count was observed in the lot of patients investigated after one to 10 years from the acute hepatitis, while in those who, after longer periods (more than 10 years) had developed a liver cirrhosis the values of these parameters were lower than normal. It is assumed that such changes could predict, already in the early stages, either the favourable course of the disease or its progress to chronicity; the hypersynthesis of lymphocyte nucleolar RNA would suggest the interference of these cells in the immune disorders implicated in the development of chronic liver disease.