Glycinothorax: a new complication of transurethral surgery.

A 76-year-old woman sustained inadvertent perforation of her posterior bladder wall during transurethral resection of a bladder tumour. In the immediate postoperative period, she developed life-threatening respiratory failure following the formation of a large, unilateral pleural effusion. After therapeutic drainage, biochemical analysis of the effusion revealed that it had a high concentration of glycine. The fluid used for intra- and postoperative bladder irrigation had leaked from the perforated bladder and collected in the pleural cavity. This type of hydrothorax complicating endoscopic urological surgery has not been described previously.

Assessment of autoregulation by means of periodic changes in blood pressure.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that the phase difference that occurs between an induced oscillation in blood pressure and the resultant oscillation in middle cerebral artery (MCA) flow velocity could reflect the competence of cerebral autoregulation. METHODS: Fourteen volunteers performed 19 cycles of 10 seconds of squatting followed by 10 seconds of standing. Peak MCA velocity was measured with transcranial Doppler ultrasound, and blood pressure was measured with a servo-controlled finger plethysmograph held level with the head. Waveforms from each cycle were added to obtain averaged waveforms of arterial blood pressure and MCA velocity. These results were processed by Fourier analysis to extract the phase difference between the fundamental components of velocity and pressure. Each volunteer performed the exercise three times: first breathing normally, secondly hyperventilating (hypocapnia), and finally while breathing air containing 5% carbon dioxide (hypercapnia). Under these conditions the volunteers were expected to have normal, enhanced, and impaired auto-regulation, respectively. RESULTS: The measurements made with normal breathing showed a phase lead of velocity ahead of pressure of 46 +/- 14 degrees (mean +/- SD). We noted a highly significant reduction in phase lead with hypercapnia (P < .00015) (Wilcoxon signed rank test, two-tailed) and a highly significant increase in phase lead with hypocapnia (P < .002). CONCLUSIONS: The results support our hypothesis and may lead to a technique for assessing the competence of cerebral autoregulation.

Quercetin, an in vitro inhibitor of CYP3A, does not contribute to the interaction between nifedipine and grapefruit juice.

Quercetin, a flavonoid present in various fruits, is a potent in vitro inhibitor of CYP3A. Its role in the reported interaction between grapefruit juice and nifedipine has been determined in vivo in humans. Eight healthy volunteers were given in random order 10 mg nifedipine orally, either alone or with 200 ml double strength grapefruit juice, or with 400 mg quercetin. The area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC) for nifedipine with grapefruit juice (mean 320 ng ml(-1) h) was increased significantly (P < 0.01) compared with the AUC when nifedipine was given alone (mean 218 ng ml(-1) h). The time to peak plasma concentration for nifedipine with grapefruit juice (1.5 h) was also increased (P < 0.05) compared with control (0.5 h) suggesting delayed absorption. Although quercetin delayed the time to peak nifedipine concentration (1.3 h) it did not alter the AUC of either the parent drug (mean 209 ng ml(-1) h) or its first-pass metabolite. The results suggest that quercetin does not contribute to the effects of grapefruit juice (which contains <10 mg of quercetin 200 ml(-1)) on the metabolism of nifedipine. Oral doses of quercetin, similar to those possible from the ingestion of other fruits such as strawberries, do not produce in vivo inhibition of CYP3A mediated metabolism of nifedipine.