Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

B Raffestin

Publications and source records attributed to B Raffestin.

62 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

Circulatory transport of oxygen in patients with chronic airflow obstruction exercising maximally.

Twenty patients with chronic bronchitis were exercised maximally on a bicycle ergometer. At exhaustion, arterial partial pressure of O2 (Pao2) decreased and that of CO2 (Paco2) increased in 8 patients (Subgroup 1). Arterial PO2 increased and Paco2 did not change in the remaining 12 patients (Subgroup 2). Forced expiratory volume in one second was lower in Subgroup 1 than in Subgroup 2. The decrease in arterial pH and the response of cardiac output were the same in both subgroups. Mixed venous PO2 decreased to 23 mm Hg or less in all patients in Subgroup 1 and in 3 patients in Subgroup 2; it stayed above 25 mm Hg in the remaining 9 patients. Our data imply that the ventilatory response to exercise is insufficient not only in Subgroup 1 but also in Subgroup 2 where the patients failed to hyperventilate in response to exercise-induced acidosis and that an unused oxygen reserve is still present at exhaustion in some patients with chronic airflow obstruction.

Aged↗

Cardiac function in chronic bronchitis: effects of pacing and plasma expansion.

1. We have investigated left ventricular function in 25 selected patients with chronic bronchitis by use of atrial pacing and plasma volume expansion. Nine subjects had a past history of acute respiratory failure. None had either clinical or electrocardiographic signs of coronary heart disease. Paradoxical pulse was absent, since the difference between the highest and lowest systolic arterial pressure throughout the respiratory cycle was 5.4 +/- 1.5 mmHg. 2. During atrial pacing, at a mean rate of 145 +/- 15, about 80% of the predicted maximal rate, none of the patients showed anginal pain or ventricular repolarization abnormality. Cardiac output remained unchanged compared with control values. 3. Plasma volume expansion was achieved by intravenous injection of 1 litre of gelatin over 30 min. Cardiac output, pulmonary wedge pressure and right atrial pressure rose as reported in literature for normal subjects. In four patients cardiac output did not increase although wedge pressure and right atrial pressure did; two of these four patients also had an overshoot in pulmonary wedge pressure just after atrial pacing, suggesting left ventricular dysfunction. Three out of 25 patients had high control right atrial pressures, probably in relation to impaired right ventricular function. No paradoxical pulse occurred during plasma volume expansion. Therefore competition for space in the pericardium between ventricles was unlikely. 4. Our data suggest that left ventricular dysfunction is rare in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. There was no significant difference between subjects with and without a past history of acute respiratory failure.

Adult↗

Comparison of hemodynamic effects of furosemide and piretanide in normovolemic patients.

The effects of furosemide and piretanide (Hoe 118) on the pulmonary hemodynamics in 20 patients recovering from uncomplicated myocardial infarctions were compared in a double-blind study. The diuretic effects and half-lives of the two drugs were not significantly different, so that their hemodynamic actions could be compared directly. Both drugs progressively reduced cardiac output and pressures in the pulmonary circulation, whereas systemic vascular resistance increased significantly. Both drugs slightly increased pulmonary blood volume but not significantly. Total blood volume decreased less rapidly than cardiac output, so that the ratio of cardiac output to total blood volume decreased with time. We conclude that both drugs increase venous compliance in normovolemic subjects and probably increase the compliance of pulmonary vessels.

Blood Pressure↗

Brain "embolism" detected by magnetic resonance imaging during percutaneous mitral balloon commissurotomy.

PURPOSE: The common finding of thrombi between the bifoil balloons when they were extracted after mitral dilation prompted us to look for evidence of minor brain embolisms using the sensitive technique of BMRI (brain magnetic resonance T2-weighted imaging). METHODS: BMRI was performed within 48 hr before and after a percutaneous mitral balloon commissurotomy (PMBC) in each of the 63 patients in this study. RESULTS: There was evidence (hyperintensity foci: HI) of a previous asymptomatic brain embolism in 38 of 63 patients before PMBC and a new HI appeared in 18 of 63 patients after the procedure. New HI signals were found exclusively in the white matter in 8 of 18 patients and in only 3 of 18 were HI signs larger than 1 cm. One patient, with an HI signal > 1 cm in the thalamus and another < 1 cm in the brain stem, presented diplopia accompanied by other minor clinical signs. The differences in HI rate among four subgroups (1, older vs younger than 43 years; 2, sinus rhythm vs atrial fibrillation; 3, echo score < 8 vs > 8; 4, patients from western countries vs the others) were not statistically significant, probably because the number of patients in each subgroup was low. Patients in atrial fibrillation had slightly more (not significant) HI before PMBC (15/20, 75%) than patients in sinus rhythm (23/43, 53%), but after PMBC their HI frequencies were similar (atrial fibrillation: 5/20, 25%; sinus rhythm: 13/43, 30%). CONCLUSION: Brain microembolism is frequent during PMBC, but is often anatomically limited and free from clinical signs in most cases. Brain embolism seems to be related mainly to the procedure itself and not the features of the patient.

Adult↗