Electrical impedance tomography-guided prone positioning in a patient with acute cor pulmonale associated with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is a noninvasive technique used to assess regional gas distribution in the lung. We experienced a patient with acute cor pulmonale during high positive-pressure ventilation for the treatment of severe acute respiratory distress syndrome. Prone positioning was beneficial for unloading the right ventricle for treatment of acute cor pulmonale. EIT played a role in detecting lung derecruitment at the patient's bedside. Impedance distribution in ventral, mid-ventral, mid-dorsal, and dorsal layers before and 20 min after the start of prone positioning was 9, 48, 44, and 0 %, and 10, 25, 48, and 16 %, respectively. Lung recruitment monitored by EIT paralleled the improvement of PaO2/FIO2 from 123 to 239 mmHg. Timing of termination of prone positioning and ventilator settings such as lowering positive end-expiration pressure was determined to maintain dorsal recruitment as seen by EIT. The patient was weaned from mechanical ventilation on day 32 and discharged on day 200. EIT assessed the effects of prone positioning with real-time dynamic imaging and guided less injurious mechanical ventilation in a patient with acute cor pulmonale with dorsal lung derecruitment.

[Abdominal aortic aneurysm with chronic contained rupture in a ninety-year-old woman: a case report].

A 90-year-old woman was admitted to a local clinic with fever, anorexia, and right lower abdominal pain on March 25, 2004. She was referred to our hospital for detailed examination of an abdominal aortic aneurysm on May 18. Computed tomography revealed an abdominal aortic aneurysm measuring 78mm in maximal diameter and a retroperitoneal hematoma, suggesting chronic contained rupture of the abdominal aortic aneurysm. Emergency Y-shaped graft replacement was performed. The intraoperative findings included a perforation on the posterior wall of the abdominal aortic aneurysm and an organized thrombus on the retroperitoneum. The postoperative course was uneventful, and the patient was discharged 21 days after surgery.