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Query: UMLS:C0034065 (pulmonary embolism)
 14,979 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Pneumonectomy carries a high-risk for postoperative complications. The aim of the study was to identify factors that may predispose to the development of major postoperative complications after pneumonectomy for lung cancer. All consecutive patients from January 2000 to December 2005 were retrospectively studied. Major postoperative complications were defined by respiratory failure, pulmonary embolism, pneumonia, shock, cardiogenic pulmonary oedema, myocardial ischaemia or symptomatic cardiac arrhythmia. One hundred and twenty-nine patients were included. The overall hospital mortality rate was 10.8%, and complications occurred in 42.6%. Multivariate analysis revealed that patients with American Society of Anesthesiologist (ASA) class >2 [odds ratio (OR) 8.26; 95% confidence interval (CI), 3.19-36.55] and liberal fluid administration during surgery (OR, 1.96 for each litre; 95% CI, 1.45-3.16) to be risk factor for major cardiopulmonary complication or mortality. Preoperative haemoglobin > or =10 g/dl (OR, 0.19; 95% CI, 0.01-0.91) and low tidal volume administrated during surgery (< or =7.35 ml/kg; OR, 0.36; 95% CI, 0.10-0.92) were identified as protective factors. Pneumonectomy remains a high-risk surgery. Postoperative complications may be influenced by the comorbidities but also the management of fluid infusion and mechanical ventilation during the surgical procedure.
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PMID:Risk and protective factors for major complications after pneumonectomy for lung cancer. 2047 75

Lithium carbonate is a widely administered antimanic drug used for the treatment of bipolar disorder, schizoaffective disorder, and depression. Despite the established clinical efficacy of lithium, its usage must be approached with caution due to its narrow therapeutic index. Lithium poisoning results in multisystem toxicity, and characteristic clinical manifestations are directly correlated to serum lithium concentration. We describe a rather rare but fatal side effect of lithium: acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in a 46-year-old female on lithium for the treatment of bipolar disease. She was referred for generalized weakness, found in hemodynamic compromise, and had laboratory data significant for a lithium level of 3.3 mmole/L, needing emergent hemodialysis. Subsequently, she developed hypoxic respiratory failure requiring intubation. Her chest x-rays showed new bilateral pulmonary edema, the computed tomography scan showed extensive alveolar consolidation and V/Q scan of low probability for pulmonary embolism. She underwent 3 dialysis sessions and supportive care and was able to be extubated in 5 days. To our knowledge, 4 cases of ARDS after the onset of lithium toxicity have been documented. All patients presented with altered mental status at serum lithium levels ranging from 3.8 to 4.9 mmole/L and cardiogenic etiologies in addition to other likely causes of ARDS were ruled out in each case. The patients were treated with saline hydration (50%) or hemodialysis (50%), indicating that hemodialysis may be a permissive factor in lithium-associated ARDS development rather than a required component. Taken together, we believe that lithium is a likely culprit in the initiation of ARDS and propose the addition of ARDS to the family of clinical manifestations of severe lithium toxicity.
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PMID:A rare case of acute respiratory distress syndrome secondary to acute lithium intoxication. 2173 31

Lung failure is the most common organ failure seen in the intensive care unit. The pathogenesis of acute respiratory failure (ARF) can be classified as (1) neuromuscular in origin, (2) secondary to acute and chronic obstructive airway diseases, (3) alveolar processes such as cardiogenic and noncardiogenic pulmonary edema and pneumonia, and (4) vascular diseases such as acute or chronic pulmonary embolism. This article reviews the more common causes of ARF from each group, including the pathological mechanisms and the principles of critical care management, focusing on the supportive, specific, and adjunctive therapies for each condition.
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PMID:Acute lung failure. 2198 97

In anemic patients receiving myelosuppressive chemotherapy, erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) raise hemoglobin levels and reduce transfusion requirements, but ESA-related safety concerns exist. To evaluate ESA benefits and risks in lung cancer, we conducted meta-analyses of data from controlled ESA trials conducted in lung cancer patients. Study-level analyses included controlled ESA trials reporting lung cancer mortality, identified from the 2006 Cochrane ESA report and from a systematic search for studies published through December 2010. Patient-level analyses included data from lung cancer patients receiving chemotherapy in Amgen studies evaluating darbepoetin alfa (DA) vs placebo. Study-level and patient-level analyses examined deaths, progression, and transfusion incidence. Patient-level analyses also examined adverse events (AEs) and fatigue. In a study-level meta-analysis of nine ESA studies of 2342 patients receiving chemotherapy, the ESA odds ratio (OR) was 0.87 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.69-1.09) for mortality; the overall random-effects risk difference (95% CI) for mortality was -0.02 (-0.06, 0.02). The ESA OR (95% CI) for disease progression in five chemotherapy studies reporting progression was 0.84 (0.65-1.09). The ESA odds ratio (95% CI) was 0.34 (0.28-0.41) for transfusion incidence. In a patient-level meta-analysis of four studies evaluating 1009 patients through follow-up, the median survival time was 41 weeks with DA and 38 weeks with placebo. During the combined study and follow-up periods, 80% of placebo-group patients and 74% of DA patients died (mortality hazard ratio [HR] 0.90 [95% CI, 0.78-1.03] for DA); results were similar for small cell lung cancer and non-small cell lung cancer. Overall, 87% of placebo patients and 84% of DA patients progressed or died. Fewer DA patients had transfusions (week 5 through end-of-study, DA 19%, placebo 43%). AEs included thrombotic/embolic events (DA 10.5%, placebo 7.2%), cerebrovascular disorders (DA 3.7%, placebo 4.2%), pulmonary edema (DA 0.4%, placebo 1.0%) and pulmonary embolism (DA 1.8%, placebo 0.6%). These meta-analyses suggest that ESAs reduce transfusions without increasing mortality or disease progression in lung cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.
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PMID:Benefits and risks of using erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) in lung cancer patients: study-level and patient-level meta-analyses. 2227 4

In circulatory failure, fluid administration limited by lung sonography protocol uses lung ultrasound artifacts and makes sequential diagnosis of obstructive, cardiogenic, hypovolemic, and septic shock. Lung ultrasound is used along with simple cardiac and vena cava analysis. Whenever echocardiography cannot be performed, fluid administration limited by lung sonography protocol is favored because of its simplicity and could prove contributive. It is based on the presence (B profile) or the absence (A profile) of interstitial pulmonary edema. However, the latter does not represent actual alveolar edema, and transthoracic echocardiography is still used by intensivists as a pivotal hemodynamic measure. Tissue Doppler imaging facilitates the estimation of left ventricular filling pressures, whereas assessing right ventricular function is of prognostic value in states of shock due to massive pulmonary embolism and acute respiratory distress syndrome. In mechanically ventilated patients, poor acoustic windows are evident and performing transesophageal echocardiography may be necessary. Whenever noninvasive hemodynamic measures are inconclusive, in a deteriorating patient, a pulmonary artery catheter may be placed. Ultrasound is not a therapy but a guide for treatment, and physicians should aim to treat underlying pathologies. Despite its limitations, general chest ultrasound (lung and cardiac ultrasound) is a powerful diagnostic and monitoring tool reflecting an era of genuine "visual" medicine.
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PMID:Integrating lung ultrasound in the hemodynamic evaluation of acute circulatory failure (the fluid administration limited by lung sonography protocol). 2252 Apr 92

Pulmonary infection and respiratory failure are frequently encountered in the early stage of acute spinal cord injury (SCI) and are thought of as the chief causes of death. Unfortunately, there is little knowledge concerned with the pathogenesis of pulmonary infection, respiratory failure and other pathological changes in the lung in the early stage of SCI. Pulmonary embolism, respiratory muscle dysfunction, poor expectoration caused by position, and decreased ability to cough up respiratory secretions were the main causes. These explanations may be beyond criticism in high-level paraplegia in SCI, but are unconvincing in lower SCI such as in low-thoracic cord injury where the phenomenon of pneumonia and respiratory dysfunction remains. There might be some more important factors that lead to pulmonary infection and respiratory failure in the early stage of SCI. In SCI rats, pulmonary edema and hemorrhage were occurred in the early stage of SCI while the other organs were almost normal. And the location of lung edema and hemorrhage were the same as that of pulmonary infection. The purpose of this paper is to propose pathological changes in the lung and possible causes for pulmonary infection and respiratory failure. We hypothesize that pulmonary edema and hemorrhage in the early stage of SCI might be the chief factor contributing to pulmonary infection and respiratory failure in lower SCI.
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PMID:Pulmonary edema and hemorrhage, possible causes of pulmonary infection and respiratory failure in the early stage of lower spinal cord injury. 2268 46

A 78-year-old man with a history of gastric ulcer and pulmonary embolism was admitted for elective revision of a right total hip replacement. He was mildly hypoxic preoperatively (saturation 89% on air). He became profoundly breathless postoperatively (saturation 75%). He was treated for presumed pulmonary oedema but failed to improve. A CT pulmonary angiogram and transthoracic echo showed no clear cause for his symptoms. Because the patient's symptoms were postural, exacerbated in the upright position and relieved by lying supine, the authors suspected a diagnosis of platypnoea-orthodeoxia syndrome associated with a patent foramen ovale (PFO). Transoesophageal echo and microbubble study confirmed he had a PFO. The patient's PFO was percutaneously closed and his symptoms and positional hypoxia completely resolved.
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PMID:Platypnoea-orthodeoxia syndrome. 2268 57

The development of modern critical care lung ultrasound is based on the classical representation of anatomical structures and the need for the assessment of specific sonography artefacts and phenomena. The air and fluid content of the lungs is interpreted using few typical artefacts and phenomena, with which the most important differential diagnoses can be made. According to a recent international consensus conference these include lung sliding, lung pulse, B-lines, lung point, reverberation artefacts, subpleural consolidations and intrapleural fluid collections. An increased number of B-lines is an unspecific sign for an increased quantity of fluid in the lungs resembling interstitial syndromes, for example in the case of cardiogenic pulmonary edema or lung contusion. In the diagnosis of interstitial syndromes lung ultrasound provides higher diagnostic accuracy (95%) than auscultation (55%) and chest radiography (72%). Diagnosis of pneumonia and pulmonary embolism can be achieved at the bedside by evaluating subpleural lung consolidations. Detection of lung sliding can help to detect asymmetrical ventilation and allows the exclusion of a pneumothorax. Ultrasound-based diagnosis of pneumothorax is superior to supine anterior chest radiography: for ultrasound the sensitivity is 92-100% and the specificity 91-100%. For the diagnosis of pneumothorax a simple algorithm was therefore designed: in the presence of lung sliding, lung pulse or B-lines, pneumothorax can be ruled out, in contrast a positive lung point is a highly specific sign of the presence of pneumothorax. Furthermore, lung ultrasound allows not only diagnosis of pleural effusion with significantly higher sensitivity than chest x-ray but also visual control in ultrasound-guided thoracocentesis.
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PMID:[Lung ultrasound in acute and critical care medicine]. 2277 47

Glucose metabolism disorders in acutely ill patients include oscillations in plasma glucose concentration outside the range of reference values. These disorders include both hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia, regardless of previous diagnosis of diabetes in a particular patient. Hyperglycemia is frequent in acute patients due to the increased release of stress hormones such as catecholamines and cortisol, but also as an effect of a cascade of proinflammatory cytokines in emergencies such as acute coronary syndrome, pulmonary edema, pulmonary embolism, injuries, severe infections and sepsis. Hyperglycemia occurs often even in patients in whom diabetes was not previously diagnosed, and in diabetic patients requirement for hypoglycemic medication may be temporarily increased. Hyperglycemia in cardiac emergencies is associated with more frequent adverse major cardiovascular events and worse prognosis. Hypoglycemia occurs seldom in these patients, its origin is almost always iatrogenic, and it worsens the patient's prognosis even more than moderate hyperglycemia. Good regulation of glycemia is necessary in the management of these patients; therefore plasma glucose determination and close monitoring are obligatory, and therapy with short acting insulin should be introduced if plasma glucose concentration exceeds 10 mmol/L, regardless of the risk of hypoglycemia. It is also useful to determine the acid-base status and blood or urine ketones.
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PMID:Glucose metabolism disorders in patients with acute coronary syndromes. 2292 5

Dyspnoea, defined as an uncomfortable awareness of breathing, together with thoracic pain are two of the most frequent symptoms of presentation of thoracic diseases in the Emergency Department (ED). Causes of dyspnoea are various and involve not only cardiovascular and respiratory systems. In the emergency setting, thoracic imaging by standard chest X-ray (CXR) plays a crucial role in the diagnostic process, because it is of fast execution and relatively not expensive. Although radiologists are responsible for the final reading of chest radiographs, very often the clinicians, and in particular the emergency physicians, are alone in the emergency room facing this task. In literature many studies have demonstrated how important and essential is an accurate direct interpretation by the clinician without the need of an immediate reading by the radiologist. Moreover, the sensitivity of CXR is much impaired when the study is performed at bedside by portable machines, particularly in the diagnosis of some important causes of acute dyspnoea, such as pulmonary embolism, pneumothorax, and pulmonary edema. In these cases, a high inter-observer variability of bedside CXR reading limits the diagnostic usefulness of the methodology and complicates the differential diagnosis. The aim of this review is to analyze the radiologic signs and the correct use of CXR in the most important conditions that cause cardiac and pulmonary dyspnoea, as acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, acute pulmonary oedema, acute pulmonary trombo-embolism, pneumothorax and pleural effusion, and to focus indications and limitations of this diagnostic tool.
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PMID:Revisiting signs, strengths and weaknesses of Standard Chest Radiography in patients of Acute Dyspnea in the Emergency Department. 2293 43


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