A case of thyroid cancer involving the trachea: treatment by partial tracheal resection and repair with a latissimus dorsi musculocutaneous flap. (1/158)

A 65 year-old man had undergone left thyroidectomy for thyroid cancer. The cancer had directly invaded the cervical esophagus and trachea and the patient was referred to our hospital for radical resection and reconstruction. Cervical computed tomography showed a mass at the left-posterior wall of the trachea. Cervical esophagectomy, resection of the left half of the trachea (6 x 3 cm) including seven rings and cervical lymph node dissection were performed. The tracheal defect was covered by a latissimus dorsi musculocutaneous flap. The patient did not lose vocal function and remains alive and well 3 years after surgery without any evidence of recurrence. Latissimus dorsi muscle flap coverage of tracheal defects seems to be a useful technique in the combined resection of the trachea.  (+info)

Anesthesia in the Yom Kippur war. (2/158)

The role of the anesthetist in the treatment of battle casualties is discussed in the light of personal experience in a field hospital and in the rear during the Yom Kippur War of October 1973. Resuscitation and intensive care both before and after evacuation play an important part in reducing mortality, and the importance of providing adequate facilities for these functions in the battle area as well as at the base is emphasized.  (+info)

Postoperative management after thymectomy. (3/158)

This paper reports a retrospective study of the preoperative and postoperative management of 28 patients who underwent thymectomy between 1956 and 1973. Patients who received postoperative artificial ventilation were compared with the group who did not with respect to sex, age, severity of disease, preoperative vital capacity, and thymic histology. Evidence is presented that postoperative artificial ventilation is required when the preoperative vital capacity with the patient on optimum anticholinesterase treatment is less than 2 litres. Additional features associated with a probable need for artificial ventilation were the presence of a thymoma, bulbar symptoms, especially dysphagia, and age over 50 years. These should be taken into account in any patient whose vital capacity is close to the critical level of 2 litres. When postoperative ventilation was required it was usually necessary for 12 days or more, and tracheostomy should therefore be done at or before thymectomy. Most patients in this series received the same dose of anticholinesterases after operation as before it and no evidence was found of a sudden decrease in requirements for anticholinesterase therapy. Two patients did not, and in them a myasthenic crisis was precipitated. We propose that the preoperative drug regimen can be continued in the immediate postthymectomy period, allowing selection of patients for tracheostomy and artificial ventilation primarily on the basis of the preoperative vital capacity.  (+info)

Acquired subglottic stenosis caused by methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus that produce epidermal cell differentiation inhibitor. (4/158)

Local infection of the trachea in intubated neonates is one of the main risk factors for development of acquired subglottic stenosis, although its role in the pathogenesis is unclear. Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is often the cause of critical illness in neonatal patients. Two cases are reported of acquired subglottic stenosis following bacterial infection of the trachea, suggesting an association with the staphylococcal exotoxin, epidermal cell differentiation inhibitor (EDIN). EDIN-producing MRSA were isolated from purulent tracheal secretions from both infants. Acquired subglottic stenosis in both cases was probably caused by delayed wound healing as the result of EDIN inhibition of epithelial cell migration.  (+info)

Depression of sublingual temperature by cold saliva. (5/158)

Sublingual and oesophageal temperatures were compared at various air temperatures in 16 subjects. In warm air (25-44 degrees C) sublingual temperatures stabilized within plus or minus 0-45 degrees C of oesophageal temperatures, but in air at room temperature (18-24 degrees C) they were sometimes as much as 1-1 degrees C below and in cold air (5-10 degrees C) as much as 4-4 degrees C below oesophageal readings. The sublingual-oesophageal temperature difference in cold air was greatly reduced by keeping the face warm, but it was not reduced in two patients breathing through tracheostomies and thereby eliminating cold air flow from the nose and pharynx. Parotid saliva temperature was low and saliva flow high during exposure, and cold saliva seemed to be mainly responsible for the erratic depression of sublingual temperature in the cold. These results indicate hazards in the casual use of sublingual temperatures, and indicate that external heat may have to be supplied to enable them to give reliable clinical assessments of body temperature.  (+info)

Potencies of doxapram and hypoxia in stimulating carotid-body chemoreceptors and ventilation in anesthetized cats. (6/158)

The effects of doxapram on carotid chemoreceptor activity and on ventilation (phrenic-nerve activity) were tested before and after denervation of the peripheral chemoreceptors in cats. Doxapram was found to be a potent stimulus to the carotid chemoreceptors; the stimulation produced by 1.0 mg/kg doxapram, iv, equalled that produced by a Pao2 of 38 torr. Doxapram also increased phrenic-nerve activity in doses as low as 0.2 mg/kg, iv. After denervation of the peripheral chemoreceptors, doxapram in doses as large as 6 mg/kg failed to stimulate ventilation. It is concluded that (in anesthetized cats) doxapram in doses of less than 6 mg/kg increases ventilation by direct stimulation of the carotid, and, probably, the aortic, chemoreceptors, not by a direct effect on the medullary respiratory center.  (+info)

Tracheal size following tracheostomy with cuffed tracheostomy tubes: an experimental study. (7/158)

In view of the severe damage caused by unyielding, low residual volume cuffs, various modifications to the cuff of an intratracheal tube have been introduced. The merits of two low-pressure cuffs were assessed in an experimental study in dogs; both cuffs produced little visible damage to the tracheal wall in dogs intubated continuously over a two-week period. A modified technique of producing tantalum tracheobronchograms without distrubing the mucous blanket or traumatizing the tracheal wall is described. These tantalum radiological studies demonstrated a progressive temporary increase in size of the trachea at cuff level over the period of intubation with these cuffs. The implications of such a progressive weakness occurring in the tracheal muscle are discussed.  (+info)

Laryngeal muscle response to phasic and tonic upper airway pressure and flow. (8/158)

The hypothesis that respiratory modulation due to upper airway (UA) pressure and flow is dependent on stimulus modality and respiratory phase-specific activation was assessed in anesthetized, tracheotomized, spontaneously breathing piglets. Negative pressure and flow applied to the isolated UA at room or body temperature during inspiration only enhanced posterior cricoarytenoid muscle activity from that present without UA pressure and flow (baseline) by 15--20%. Time shifting the onset of UA flow relative to tracheal flow decreased this enhancement. The same enhancement was observed with oscillatory or constant airflow. UA positive pressure and flow at room or body temperature applied during expiration only enhanced thyroarytenoid muscle activity from baseline by 50--160%. The same enhancement was observed with oscillatory or constant airflow at body temperature. Constant positive pressure and flow enhanced thyroarytenoid muscle activity more than oscillatory pressure and flow at room temperature. We conclude that the respiratory modulation of UA afferents is processed in a phase-specific fashion and is dependent on stimulus modality (tonic vs. phasic).  (+info)