Swelling in the hypopharynx as a cause of difficult tracheal intubation.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to T Asai.
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Fibreoptic bronchoscopy is often used to diagnose tracheomalacia under local anaesthesia. However, in children, general anaesthesia may be required due to difficulty in obtaining co-operation. A 1-yr-old girl with a suspected congenital tracheomalacia was scheduled for diagnostic fibreoptic bronchoscopy. During induction of anaesthesia by inhalation of increasing concentration of sevoflurane, spontaneous breathing became irregular and a partial airway obstruction occurred. Because vecuronium relieved the airway obstruction, the airway was managed using a laryngeal mask. No further airway obstruction occurred during fibrescopy under controlled ventilation, but when spontaneous breathing resumed, marked airway obstruction occurred. The trachea was intubated immediately. Caution is required to manage the airway without tracheal intubation during general anaesthesia in the patient with tracheomalacia.
The Japanese Red Cross analysed the results of questionnaires sent in 1993 regarding post-transfusion graft-vs.-host disease (PT-GVHD) from hospitals; the majority of patients with PT-GVHD in 1993 were transfused for cardiovascular or cancer surgery, and about 10 patients had died yearly from PT-GVHD in the following few years. The Japan Society of Blood Transfusion (JSBT) organized a subcommittee for the prevention of PT-GVHD, and issued a fourth version of guidelines for the irradiation of blood to prevent PT-GVHD. These guidelines recommended transfusion of irradiated blood for cardiosurgery, cancer surgery, elderly recipients and severe trauma, as well as congenital immunodeficient recipients, newborn infants and other immunocompromised patients. Also recommended was irradiation not only of blood within 72 h after collection but also of blood stored for 14 days. Reported PT-GVHD has diminished to a few cases in recent years.
The protective activity of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae inactivated vaccine prepared from sedimented whole cells and cell-free culture supernates was evaluated experimentally using hysterectomy-produced, colostrum-deprived pigs in which mycoplasmal pneumonia had been induced. The culture supernate vaccine containing less than 10(1) colour-changing units (CCU)/0.2 ml of M. hyopneumoniae significantly (P < 0.05) reduced the percentage of lung lesions compared to controls (3.2 +/- 3.9 vs. 12.2 +/- 2.2%), whereas the sedimented whole cells vaccine containing 10(10) CCU/0.2 ml of organisms provided variable protection (18.7 +/- 16.5 vs. 12.2 +/- 2.2%). Serum from the pigs vaccinated with culture supernate reacted with six protein bands of 97, 89, 65, 46, 42 and 41 kDa by immunoblot analysis. From these results, we conclude that vaccination with culture supernate of M. hyopneumoniae can provide protection against M. hyopneumoniae infection and that these antigens in the culture supernate may be closely related to the reduction of lung lesions.
1. The Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty (OLETF) rat is a model of type II diabetes with accompanying dyslipidaemia and obesity. 2. To define chromosomal intervals associated with obesity (abdominal fat weight and plasma leptin levels), dyslipidaemia (plasma triglyceride, cholesterol and free fatty acids) and hyperglycaemia (plasma glucose levels), we have performed genome-wide quantitative traits loci (QTL) analyses of 115 male OLETF x (OLETF x Fischer 344) backcross animals at 16 weeks of age. 3. The Diabetes Mellitus OLETF type I (Dmo1) locus on rat chromosome 1 showed statistically significant involvement in elevations of plasma levels of triglycerides (P = 4.87 x 10(-6) at D1Rat90) and total cholesterol (P = 1.16 x 10(-5) at D1Rat306). 4. No other loci produced significant linkage to these observed phenotypes. 5. These analyses have confirmed the importance of Dmo1 in lipid homeostasis at younger ages as well as during overt diabetes, which appears later. Thus, alterations at the Dmo1 locus are a major risk factor for pathogenesis in the strain, a finding that agrees with physiological studies that indicate a role for dyslipidaemia in the type II diabetic syndrome of OLETF rats.
OBJECTIVES: The goals of the present study were to develop a predictive coronary risk scoring system after intravenous gamma-globulin (IVGG) therapy of any dose for the different preparations currently used in the treatment of children with Kawasaki disease and to determine the predictive value of the system. The previously reported scoring systems were based on treatment with high-dose IVGG therapy at limited doses and were determined using investigative methods. METHODS: Four hundred and fifty-one patients were randomized into one of three groups and received either i.v. polyethylene glycol-treated human immunoglobulin at a dose of either 200 (n = 147) or 400 mg/kg per day (n = 152) or freeze-dried sulfonated human immunoglobulin at 200 mg/kg per day (n = 152) for 5 consecutive days. We documented 31 cases of coronary abnormalities (CA). Univariate and multivariate logistic regression was performed using 49 clinical variables and the resulting predictive model was validated. RESULTS: The duration of fever (odds (I day)/odds (- 5 days)= 0.158; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.0385-0.648), hemoglobin (odds (Q1 = 10.3)/odds (Q3 = 11.6) = 3.97; 95% CI 1.92-8.20), IgG (odds (Q1 = 1,900)/odds (Q3=2,658)=2.72, 95% CI 1.18-6.25) and IgA (odds (Q1 =72)/odds (Q3= 160) = 0.415; 95% CI 0.253-0.680) levels after completion of gamma-globulin infusion were independent predictors. The model is quasi-cross validated and has acceptable sensitivity and selectivity. The estimated risk and observed occurrence of CA coincide. CONCLUSIONS: Determinants of the risk of CA after IVGG therapy are a longer duration of fever, a lower IgG level, a higher IgA level and a lower hemoglobin level after IVGG infusion. This model is applicable for IVGG doses from 1 to 2 g/kg and for at least two different gamma-globulin preparations.
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Stereotactic radiosurgery can be used to treat malignant tumors involving the skull base. While it avoids extensive sacrifice of the normal structures surrounding the tumor, radiosurgery does not eradicate the tumor mass immediately. We present a patient with a large hypervascular malignant tumor involving the skull base that resulted in intracranial hypertension. He was successfully treated with stereotactic radiosurgery combined with intra-arterial chemotherapy and embolization of the arteries feeding the tumor. We discuss radiosurgery, chemotherapy, embolization and other therapeutic modalities for treating large malignant tumors involving the skull base.
We studied 70 patients to see if cricoid pressure applied after insertion of the laryngeal mask altered the success rate of tracheal intubation through the mask. After induction of anaesthesia and neuromuscular blockade, patients were randomly allocated to have either cricoid pressure (Group C) or sham pressure (Group S). The view of the glottis through the laryngeal mask was assessed before and after the test pressure, and tracheal intubation through the mask was attempted using a fibreoptic bronchoscope. The test pressure did not alter the view of the glottis in any patient in group S, whereas it narrowed the glottic aperture in 16 out of 35 patients in group C. The fibrescope was inserted into the trachea in all patients in group S and in 25 patients in group C. The success rate of tracheal intubation in group S (31 patients) was significantly higher than in group C (21 patients, P << 0.001; 95% CI for difference: 9-48%). The time for insertion of the fibrescope in group S (median (95% CI): 12 (11-12) s) was significantly faster than in group C (16 (14-17) s, P << 0.001; 95% CI for difference: 3-6 s), and the time for tracheal intubation in group S (16 (15-18) s) was significantly faster than in group C (22 (19-24) s, P < 0.0005; 95% CI for difference: 3-7 s). Cricoid pressure after insertion of the laryngeal mask makes tracheal intubation through the mask significantly more difficult.
We investigated whether low-dose erythromycin (200 mg) given as an oral premedicant altered the residual gastric volume and its acidity in fasted patients at induction of anaesthesia in a single-blinded study. Sixty patients were allocated randomly to receive either an erythromycin tablet (200 mg) or nothing with 10 ml water 3 h before induction of anaesthesia, and another 60 patients 1 h before induction of anaesthesia. Oral erythromycin significantly reduced residual gastric volume when it was given approximately 3 h (P<0.05; 95% CI for median difference: 0.1-17 ml) or 1 h (P<0.0005; 95% CI for median difference: 6-24 ml) before induction of anaesthesia. Erythromycin significantly reduced gastric acidity when it was given 1 h before induction of anaesthesia (P<0.02; 95% CI for median pH difference: 0.1-1.7). In contrast, when given 3 h before induction of anaesthesia, erythromycin did not significantly alter acidity.
UNLABELLED: Volatile anesthetics may be used to treat status epilepticus when conventional drugs are ineffective. We studied 30 cats to compare the inhibitory effects of sevoflurane, isoflurane, and halothane on penicillin-induced status epilepticus. Anesthesia was induced and maintained with one of the three volatile anesthetics in oxygen. Penicillin G was injected into the cisterna magna, and the volatile anesthetic discontinued. Once status epilepticus was induced (convulsive period), the animal was reanesthetized with 0.6 minimum alveolar anesthetic concentration (MAC) of the volatile anesthetic for 30 min, then with 1.5 MAC for the next 30 min. Electroencephalogram and multiunit activity in the midbrain reticular formation were recorded. At 0.6 MAC, all anesthetics showed anticonvulsant effects. Isoflurane and halothane each abolished the repetitive spike phase in one cat; isoflurane reduced the occupancy of the repetitive spike phase (to 27%+/-22% of the convulsive period (mean +/- SD) significantly more than sevoflurane (60%+/-29%; P < 0.05) and halothane (61%+/-24%; P < 0.05), and the increase of midbrain reticular formation with repetitive spikes was reduced by all volatile anesthetics. The repetitive spikes were abolished by 1.5 MAC of the anesthetics: in 9 of 10 cats by sevoflurane, in 9 of 9 cats by isoflurane, and in 9 of 11 cats by halothane. In conclusion, isoflurane, sevoflurane, and halothane inhibited penicillin-induced status epilepticus, but isoflurane was the most potent. IMPLICATIONS: Convulsive status epilepticus is an emergency state and requires immediate suppression of clinical and electrical seizures, but conventional drugs may be ineffective. In such cases, general anesthesia may be effective. In the present study, we suggest that isoflurane is preferable to halothane and sevoflurane to suppress sustained seizure.
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Fumonisin B1 (FB1), a programmed cell death-eliciting toxin produced by the necrotrophic fungal plant pathogen Fusarium moniliforme, was used to simulate pathogen infection in Arabidopsis. Plants infiltrated with 10 microM FB1 and seedlings transferred to agar media containing 1 microM FB1 develop lesions reminiscent of the hypersensitive response, including generation of reactive oxygen intermediates, deposition of phenolic compounds and callose, accumulation of phytoalexin, and expression of pathogenesis-related (PR) genes. Arabidopsis FB1-resistant (fbr) mutants were selected directly by sowing seeds on agar containing 1 microM FB1, on which wild-type seedlings fail to develop. Two mutants chosen for further analyses, fbr1 and fbr2, had altered PR gene expression in response to FB1. fbr1 and fbr2 do not exhibit differential resistance to the avirulent bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae pv maculicola (ES4326) expressing the avirulence gene avrRpt2 but do display enhanced resistance to a virulent isogenic strain that lacks the avirulence gene. Our results demonstrate the utility of FB1 for high-throughput isolation of Arabidopsis defense-related mutants and suggest that pathogen-elicited programmed cell death of host cells may be an important feature of compatible plant-pathogen interactions.
We have established an Arabidopsis protoplast model system to study plant cell death signaling. The fungal toxin fumonisin B1 (FB1) induces apoptosis-like programmed cell death (PCD) in wild-type protoplasts. FB1, however, only marginally affects the viability of protoplasts isolated from transgenic NahG plants, in which salicylic acid (SA) is metabolically degraded; from pad4-1 mutant plants, in which an SA amplification mechanism is thought to be impaired; or from jar1-1 or etr1-1 mutant plants, which are insensitive to jasmonate (JA) or ethylene (ET), respectively. FB1 susceptibility of wild-type protoplasts decreases in the dark, as does the cellular content of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase, a light-inducible enzyme involved in SA biosynthesis. Interestingly, however, FB1-induced PCD does not require the SA signal transmitter NPR1, given that npr1-1 protoplasts display wild-type FB1 susceptibility. Arabidopsis cpr1-1, cpr6-1, and acd2-2 protoplasts, in which the SA signaling pathway is constitutively activated, exhibit increased susceptibility to FB1. The cpr6-1 and acd2-2 mutants also constitutively express the JA and ET signaling pathways, but only the acd2-2 protoplasts undergo PCD in the absence of FB1. These results demonstrate that FB1 killing of Arabidopsis is light dependent and requires SA-, JA-, and ET-mediated signaling pathways as well as one or more unidentified factors activated by FB1 and the acd2-2 mutation.
Frequencies of vaccine-responsive T-lymphocyte precursors in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) prior to and after administration of peptide-based vaccines in patients with cancer can be measured by limiting-dilution assays (LDA) or by ELISPOT assays. We have used a modified version of the ELISPOT assay to monitor changes in the frequency of gamma interferon (IFN-gamma)-producing T cells in a population of lymphocytes responding to a relevant peptide or a nonspecific stimulator, such as phorbol myristate acetate-ionomycin. Prior to its use for monitoring of patient samples, the assay was validated and found to be comparable to the LDA performed in parallel, using tumor-reactive cytolytic T-lymphocyte (CTL) lines. The sensitivity of the ELISPOT assay was found to be 1/100,000 cells, with an interassay coefficient of variation of 15%, indicating that it could be reliably used for monitoring of changes in the frequency of IFN-gamma-secreting responder cells in noncultured or cultured lymphocyte populations. To establish that the assay is able to detect the T-cell precursor cells responsive to the vaccine, we used CD8(+) T-cell populations positively selected from PBMC of HLA-A2(+) patients with metastatic melanoma, who were treated with dendritic cell-based vaccines containing gp100, MELAN-A/MART-1, tyrosinase, and influenza virus matrix peptides. The frequency of peptide-specific responder T cells ranged from 0 to 1/2,600 before vaccination and increased by at least 1 log unit after vaccination in two patients, one of whom had a clinical response to the vaccine. However, no increases in the frequency of peptide-responsive T cells were observed in noncultured PBMC or PBMC cultured in the presence of the relevant peptides after the melanoma patients enrolled in another trial were treated with the intramuscular peptide vaccine plus MF59 adjuvant. Thus, while the ELISPOT assay was found to be readily applicable to assessments of frequencies of CTL precursors of established CTL lines and ex vivo-amplified PBMC, its usefulness for monitoring of fresh PBMC in patients with cancer was limited. In many of these patients antitumor effector T cells are present at frequencies of lower than 1/100,000 in the peripheral circulation. Serial monitoring of such patients may require prior ex vivo amplification of specific precursor cells.
We investigated the neuronal plasticity in the spinal dorsal horn and its relationship with spinal inhibitory networks using an optical-imaging method that detects neuronal excitation. High-intensity single-pulse stimulation of the dorsal root activating both A and C fibers evoked an optical response in the lamina II (the substantia gelatinosa) of the dorsal horn in transverse slices of 12- to 25-day-old rat spinal cords stained with a voltage-sensitive dye, RH-482. The optical response, reflecting the net neuronal excitation along the slice-depth, was depressed by 28% for more than 1 h after a high-frequency conditioning stimulation of A fibers in the dorsal root (3 tetani of 100 Hz for 1 s with an interval of 10 s). The depression was not induced in a perfusion solution containing an NMDA antagonist, DL-2-amino-5-phosphonovaleric acid (AP5; 30 microM). In a solution containing the inhibitory amino acid antagonists bicuculline (1 microM) and strychnine (3 microM), and also in a low Cl(-) solution, the excitation evoked by the single-pulse stimulation was enhanced after the high-frequency stimulation by 31 and 18%, respectively. The enhanced response after conditioning was depotentiated by a low-frequency stimulation of A fibers (0.2-1 Hz for 10 min). Furthermore, once the low-frequency stimulation was applied, the high-frequency conditioning could not potentiate the excitation. Inhibitory transmissions thus regulate the mode of synaptic plasticity in the lamina II most likely at afferent terminals. The high-frequency conditioning elicits a long-term depression (LTD) of synaptic efficacy under a greater activity of inhibitory amino acids, but it results in a long-term potentiation (LTP) when inhibition is reduced. The low-frequency preconditioning inhibits the potentiation induction and maintenance by the high-frequency conditioning. These mechanisms might underlie robust changes of nociception, such as hypersensitivity after injury or inflammation and pain relief after electrical or cutaneous stimulation.