[Changes of blood viscosity in neurosurgery (1st observation)].
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to A Frangiosa.
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This study adds another category of patients to those amenable to body impedance analysis (BIA). BIA measurements were obtained for the first time in 23 male patients with end-stage heart failure who were waiting for heart transplantation, and the data were compared with those obtained in 69 healthy controls matched for age, sex, height and weight. The data indicate that in end-stage heart failure there is an increased reactance (p<0.01) and an altered intracellular water/extracellular water ratio (p<0.03) due to the increased intracellular water (p<0.01) and decreased extracellular water (p<0.01).
Renal reserve was explored by means of an oral protein load (2 g/kg body weight) under the form of cooked red meat in a group of 9 patients with end-stage heart failure (ESHF), class III of the New York Heart Association receiving loop diuretics and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, and in a group of 18 healthy controls (HC) matched for age, gender, and height under an identical dietary regimen providing 40 cal/kg per day, 1 g/kg body weight of protein per day, Na 120 mmol/day, and K 50 mmol/day. Baseline glomerular filtration rate averaged 109.5+/-9.89 ml/min x 1.73 m2 in HC and 71.9+/-8.8 ml/min x 1.73 m2 in ESHF. Renal plasma flow averaged 540+/-27 ml/min x 1.73 m2 in HC and 235+/-47 ml/min x 1.73 m2 in ESHF. The filtration fraction was significantly higher in ESHF (p<0.01). Renal reserve averaged 26.03+/-3.28 ml/min x 1.73 m2 in HC and 27.2+/-7.12 ml/min x 1.73 m2 (not significant). Renal reserve averaged 123.9+/-2.9% in HC and 137.3+/-6.68% in ESHF (not significant). The filtration capacity was significantly higher in HC (p<0.001). The data point to a normalcy of renal reserve in ESHF which may depend on the chronic use of ACE inhibitors.
BACKGROUND: Sevelamer hydrochloride, a major phosphate binder for patients on maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) is associated with reduced serum bicarbonate concentration due to hydrochloric acid release in the gut and to the binding of short chain fatty acids in the large intestine. Since metabolic acidosis can be deleterious, a study was devised to compare the time course of serum bicarbonate concentration during treatment with sevelamer hydrochloride or calcium carbonate. METHODS: Sixteen well nourished patients on MHD who were in excellent clinical conditions and achieving target levels for blood pressure (BP) and hemoglobin (Hb), while on a protein intake of 1.1g/kg body weight (bw), were enrolled in the study. After a 2-week washout period, the patients were divided into two groups, each consisting of eight patients, and randomized either to 24 weeks of sevelamer followed by 24 weeks of calcium carbonate (group A) or to 24 weeks of calcium carbonate followed by 24 weeks of sevelamer (group B). Protein intake, n-protein catabolic rate (nPCR), serum concentrations of calcium, phosphate, calcium x phosphate (Ca x P) product, bicarbonate, intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH) and albumin were monitored. Time course changes in serum bicarbonate concentrations in relation to short and long dialytic intervals (48 vs. 72 hr) were also investigated. RESULTS: Both sevelamer and calcium carbonate effectively controlled serum phosphate and the Ca x P product. During calcium carbonate treatment plasma phosphate concentrations were significantly below those of patients on sevelamer. Plasma bicarbonate concentration fell within target DOQI values during calcium carbonate administration both in group A and in group B, a goal which was not achieved under sevelamer administration. After a long dialytic interval in patients on sevelamer, serum bicarbonate concentration averaged 17.3 +/- 1.1 mEq/L, whereas it averaged 21.1 +/- 0.7 mEq/L in patients on calcium carbonate (p<0.01). Finally, a 24-week sevelamer administration caused a statistically significant (p<0.05) reduction (0.8 g/dL) in serum albumin concentration, without affecting iPTH. Taken together, these results indicate that sevelamer worsens metabolic acidosis, which needs to be corrected.
In end-stage heart failure, various acid-base disorders can be discovered due to the renal loss of hydrogen ions and hydrogen ion movements into cells, the reduction of the effective circulating volume, hypoxemia and renal failure. This justifies the occurrence of metabolic alkalosis, metabolic acidosis, respiratory alkalosis, as well as respiratory acidosis alone or in combination. Several studies have been published on the acid-base state in heart failure. In a 1951 study, Squires et al analyzed the distribution of body fluid in congestive heart failure by taking into consideration the abnormalities in serum electrolyte concentration and in acid-base equilibrium. A recent study by Milionis et al, analyzed 86 patients with congestive heart failure receiving conventional treatment; the majority of these patients exhibited hypokalemia, hyponatremia, hypocalcemia and hypophosphatemia. Disorders in acid-base balance were noted in 37.2% of patients. In a recent study, 70 patients with severe congestive heart failure before heart transplantation showed high-normal pH, slightly reduced pCO 2 and a slight loss of hydrogen ions. After heart transplantation, stability of blood pH and hydrogen ion concentrations was found. In contrast, bicarbonate and pCO 2 increased significantly. The data led us to formulate the diagnosis of a mixed acid-base disorder that includes respiratory alkalosis and metabolic alkalosis before heart transplantation. In heart failure, the presence of acid-base imbalance associated with the activation of mechanisms that lead to salt and water retention reveals evidence concerning the pivotal role of the kidney in determining the outcome of these patients.