OBJECTIVE: To describe the hospital stay of patients undergoing lobectomy or pneumonectomy in comparison with reference data from the Spanish National Health Service. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Prospective study of all consecutive lobectomy or pneumonectomy cases from January 1998 through December 2000. Data collected prospectively were as follows: date of birth, main diagnosis, dates of admission and discharge, surgical procedure, complications and postoperative exitus. Data collected retrospectively included all information related to readmission over the 30 days following discharge. Reference data were obtained from the web page of the Spanish Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs. RESULTS: Mean hospital stay for the 279 patients studied was 8.3 days (8.4 for 214 lobectomy patients and 7.7 for 65 pneumonectomy patients). For either of the procedures the 50 percentile was 7 days. The rate of readmission was 8.6%. The 83 patients with postoperative complications required a mean stay of 11.9 days (p < 0.001). The reference data for 1998 were 17.5 days for a lobectomy (n = 1,443) and 19.8 days (n = 693) for pneumonectomy. CONCLUSION: The mean hospital stay of reference is far longer than that which we consider adequate for pulmonary resection.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Olive oil and the Mediterranean diet: implications for health in Europe.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Diet, Fat-Restricted↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Inhalation administration of nitric oxide during selective pulmonary ventilation decreases the intrapulmonary shunt].

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effects of inhaled nitric oxide (NO) on oxygenation and hemodynamics in patients undergoing lung resection surgery during one-lung ventilation (OPV). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Prospective study of 16 patients aged 62 +/- 10 years scheduled for chest surgery under combined general and epidural anesthesia. During ventilation of only one lung, NO was administered for 15 minutes. Arterial blood and mixed venous blood samples were taken for analysis of blood gases and the calculation of intrapulmonary shunt. Pulmonary and systemic hemodynamic variables were also recorded using a Swan-Ganz catheter at three times: baseline (ventilation of both lungs), OLV, and with OLV plus NO (OLV NO). RESULTS: The most relevant data consisted of a significant decrease in shunt after start of NO inhalation in comparison with the level during OLV (31.1 +/- 0.5% versus 36 +/- 0.6%; p < 0.05). Arterial oxygen pressure decreased significantly during OLV and increased after start of NO (118.9 +/- 53.6 versus 155.4 +/- 78.5 mmHg; p < 0.05). Mean pulmonary artery pressure, pulmonary and systemic vascular resistances, and cardiac index did not change with inhalation of NO. CONCLUSIONS: Inhalational administration of NO during OLV significantly improves arterial oxygenation and decreases intrapulmonary shunt during OLV, without causing hemodynamic or systemic effects.

Administration, Inhalation↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Comparative molecular study of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains, in times of antimicrobial drug resistance.

Strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis were compared using two DNA fingerprinting techniques: Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP) and Double-Repetitive-Element-PCR (DRE-PCR). Two of these strains: IH1 (susceptible to isoniazid) and IH2 (resistant to isoniazid) were recovered from cases of pulmonary tuberculosis which occurred in two brothers who lived together. The first one was recognized on July 1999, and the second was diagnosed one year later. IH1 and IH2 showed the same pattern of bands with both molecular tests. These results suggest that single drug chemoprophylaxis may occasionally select resistant strains for that drug, which can eventually cause disease and be recognized through these tests. Strains IH3, IH4 and IH5 were obtained from sputum samples of 3 different patients, and intra-laboratory cross-contamination was suspected when it was realized that the 3 positive materials had been consecutively processed the same day by the same worker in the same biological safety cabinet. Again, the 3 strains revealed identical band patterns with RFLP and DRE-PCR, confirming the posed suspicion. The results with DRE-PCR were obtained after only 8 hours of work, without the need for subcultures. This procedure allows quick correction of treatment conducts, avoiding unnecessary exposure of people and bacteria to antimicrobial drugs.

Adult↗