Bioelectrical impedance plethysmographic analysis of body composition in critically injured and healthy subjects. (1/143)

BACKGROUND: Determination of body composition during critical illness is complex because of various patient-related and technical factors. Bioelectrical impedance is a promising technique for the analysis of body composition; however, its clinical utility in critically injured patients is unknown. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to compare bioelectrical impedance with metabolic activity in healthy and critically injured patients. If bioelectrical impedance accurately determines body composition during critical illness, the slope between body-composition variables and oxygen consumption would be the same in critically injured and healthy subjects. DESIGN: There is a strong linear relation between body composition and metabolic activity. In the present study, body composition (fat-free mass and body cell mass) was determined by using bioelectrical impedance and resting metabolic activity (metabolic rate and oxygen consumption) by using gas exchange analysis in a group of healthy and critically injured subjects. The relation between these variables was compared by using linear regression to a similar relation established by hydrostatic weighing in a large historical control group. RESULTS: The slope of the line relating fat-free mass to resting metabolic rate was the same in the healthy and critically ill groups (P = 0.62) and each was similar to the slope of the line for the control group. However, in 37% of the critically injured group, overhydration contributed to an increase in fat-free mass, disturbing the relation with resting metabolic rate. The slope of the line relating body cell mass to oxygen consumption in our healthy and critically ill groups was almost identical. CONCLUSION: These results support the use of bioelectrical impedance to determine body cell mass in healthy and critically ill subjects.  (+info)

Comparison of air-displacement plethysmography with hydrostatic weighing and bioelectrical impedance analysis for the assessment of body composition in healthy adults. (2/143)

BACKGROUND: Over the past decade, considerable attention has been paid to accurately measuring body composition in diverse populations. Recently, the use of air-displacement plethysmography (AP) was proposed as an accurate, comfortable, and accessible method of body-composition analysis. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to compare measurements of percentage body fat (%BF) by AP and 2 other established techniques, hydrostatic weighing (HW) and bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA), in adults. DESIGN: The sample consisted of healthy men (n = 23) and women (n = 24). %BF was measured by AP, HW, and BIA. RESULTS: In the total group, %BF(AP) (25.0+/-8.9%) was not significantly different from %BF(HW) (25.1+/-7.7%) or %BF(BIA) (23.9+/-7.7%), and %BF(AP) was significantly correlated with %BF(HW) (r = 0.944, P < 0.001) and with %BF(BIA) (r = 0.859, P < 0.01). Compared with HW, AP underestimated %BF in men (by -1.24+/-3.12%) but overestimated %BF in women (by 1.02+/-2.48%), indicating a significant sex effect (P < 0.05). The differences in estimation between AP and BIA and between BIA and HW were not significantly different between the sexes. CONCLUSION: AP is an accurate method for assessing body composition in healthy adults. Future studies should assess further the cause of the individual variations with this new method.  (+info)

A new method of intraoperative hydraulic impedance measurement provides valuable prognostic information about infrainguinal graft patency. (3/143)

PURPOSE: Prognostic information about graft outcome, obtained by using a new method for intraoperative measurement of vascular impedance, was evaluated. METHODS: Hydraulic impedance was measured in 136 infrainguinal bypass grafts that were entered into a multicenter trial. Seventy femoropopliteal and 66 femorocrural polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) grafts were used. The arterial impedance measurement involved a silicon bypass graft temporarily inserted between the proximal and distal anastomoses sites. A flowmeter probe and a pressure transducer were incorporated into the tube. The digitally stored waveforms were subjected to a fast Fourier transformation and both input (Z(x)) and characteristic (Z(0)) impedances, as well as phase relations, were computed and related to graft outcome after 3 years. RESULTS: Significant prognostic information for both popliteal and crural grafts was provided by means of the phase angle of the first harmonic. Primary and secondary patency rates for popliteal bypasses were 45% +/- 1% and 65% +/- 2% for phase angles greater than -40 degrees (n = 57) and 37% +/- 1% and 40% +/- 1% for phase angles less than -40 degrees (n = 13, p(prim ) = not significant, p(sec) < 0.01). For crural grafts, the secondary patency rates were 49% +/- 1% and 61% +/- 2% for phase angles greater than -40 degrees (n = 53) and 15% +/- 1% and 0% for phase angles less than -40 degrees (n = 13, P <.01). All crural bypass grafts with phase angles less than -40 degrees occluded within 16 months. Steady flow resistance, as well as Z(x) and Z(0), failed to indicate a significant relation to graft prognosis. CONCLUSION: This method provides reliable prognostic information regarding graft patency and opens hydraulic impedance measurement to clinical surgery. The phase lag between flow and pressure curves, as expressed by the phase angle of the first harmonic, provides significant prognostic information.  (+info)

Second by second patterns in cortical electroencephalograph and systolic blood pressure during Cheyne-Stokes. (4/143)

Little is known about how arousal develops during the ventilatory phase of Cheyne-Stokes breathing. This study employs neural network analysis of electroencephalograms (EEGs) to describe these changes and relate them to changes in systolic blood pressure, which is probably a subcortical marker of arousal. Six patients with Cheyne-Stokes respiration (apnoea/hypopnoea index 32-69 h(-1)) caused by stable chronic heart failure underwent polysomnography including arterial beat-to-beat systolic blood pressure determination. Periods of 15 sequential apnoeas during nonrapid eye movement sleep were identified for each subject. For each apnoea, the EEG was examined second-by-second using neural net analysis from 28 s before to 28 s after apnoea termination (first return of oronasal airflow), and this was compared with the systolic blood pressure pattern. During the apnoeic phase, sleep deepened progressively. Arousal started to develop at or just before apnoea termination and progresses through the breathing phase. The rise and fall in the systolic blood pressure closely followed the rise and fall in electroencephalographic sleep depth. In conclusion, during Cheyne-Stokes breathing, cortical electroencephalographic arousal begins at or just before the resumption of breathing. Cortical electroencephalographic sleep depth changes are closely mirrored by changes in arterial systolic blood pressure, suggesting that the state changes in the cortical and basal brain structures may be synchronous.  (+info)

Monitoring equipment induced tachycardia in patients with minute ventilation rate-responsive pacemakers. (5/143)

Minute ventilation-sensing pacemakers enable the paced heart to respond to an increased workload. Two patients with such a pacemaker developed pacemaker-driven tachycardia when connected to an electrocardiogram (ECG) monitor also capable of documenting ventilatory frequency and ECG lead disconnection. This tachycardia stopped when the ECG leads were removed. These pacemakers and monitors emit a low-amplitude electrical current and measure the resultant impedence signal across the chest. When patients are connected to the monitor the pacemaker sensor summates both impedence signals and the paced heart rate is increased as a result.  (+info)

Quantitative general theory for periodic breathing in chronic heart failure and its clinical implications. (6/143)

BACKGROUND: In patients with chronic heart failure (CHF), periodic breathing (PB) predicts poor prognosis. Clinical studies have identified numerous risk factors for PB (which also includes Cheyne-Stokes respiration). Computer simulations have shown that oscillations can arise from delayed negative feedback. However, no simple general theory quantitatively explains PB and its mechanisms of treatment using widely-understood clinical concepts. Therefore, we introduce a new approach to the quantitative analysis of the dynamic physiology governing cardiorespiratory stability in CHF. METHODS AND RESULTS: An algebraic formula was derived (presented as a simple 2D plot), enabling prediction from easily acquired clinical data to determine whether respiration will be unstable. Clinical validation was performed in 20 patients with CHF (10 with PB and 10 without) and 10 healthy normal subjects. Measurements, including chemoreflex sensitivity (S) and delay (delta), alveolar volume (V(L)), and end-tidal CO(2) fraction (C), were applied to the stability formula. The breathing pattern was correctly predicted in 28 of the 30 subjects. The principal combined parameter (CS)x(delta/V(L)) was higher in patients with PB (14.2+/-3.0) than in those without PB (3.1+/-0.5; P:=0.0005) or in normal controls (2.4+/-0.5; P:=0.0003). This was because of differences in both chemoreflex sensitivity (1749+/-235 versus 620+/-103 and 526+/-104 L/min per atm CO(2); P:=0.0001 and P:<0.0001, respectively) and chemoreflex delay (0.53+/-0.06 vs 0.40+/-0.06 and 0.30+/-0.04 min; P:=NS and P:=0.02). CONCLUSION: This analytical approach identifies the physiological abnormalities that are important in the genesis of PB and explicitly defines the region of predicted instability. The clinical data identify chemoreflex gain and delay time (rather than hyperventilation or hypocapnia) as causes of PB.  (+info)

Cardiopulmonary adjustments following single high dosage administration of methylprednisolone in traumatized man. (7/143)

Pharmacologic doses of methylprednisolone sodium succinate were administered to 10 critically ill patients when the steroid was the only variable. Measurements of respiratory and circulatory physiologic parameters were obtained in all patients prior to injection and at 30 and 90 minutes following injection of methylprednisolone sodium succinate. A significant increase in Cardiac Index was seen (P less than .01) which appeared to be in association with a decrease in pulmonary vascular resistance (P less than .01) at a time when physiologic shunting of blood through the lungs increased (P less than .01). These changes imply improved perfusion of non- or poorly ventilated portions of the lungs. Four of ten patients demonstrated removal of lactate by the lung during the control period. Following methylprednisolone sodium succinate injection, 9 of 10 patients demonstrated production or a washout of lactate from the lungs.  (+info)

Response of the stroke volume and blood pressure of young patients with nonobstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy to exercise. (8/143)

Stroke volume (SV), cardiac output (CO) and systolic blood pressure (SBP) were measured during maximal symptom-limited bicycle exercise testing in 13 young patients (age, 11-26 years) with nonobstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). SV was measured by impedance plethysmocardiography; %SVend, %COend, and %SBPend represent the ratio of the value at termination of the exercise to the respective value at rest. In all patients of HCM-I (the Cardiac Event Group, 3 patients) and 3 of HCM-II (the Non-Cardiac Event Group, 10 patients), the %SVend was less than 100%. The %SVend of HCM-I was significantly lower than the respective values of the HCM-II and Control groups. The %COend values of the HCM-I and HCM-II groups were each significantly lower than that of the Control. The %SBPend values of the HCM-I and HCM-II groups were each significantly lower than that of the Control. Among the HCM patients, the %SVend value was positively correlated with the %SBPend value. The patients who had more severe HCM had poorer exercise-induced increases in SV and SBP. These results suggest that sudden cardiac death in young HCM patients is associated with inhibition of the increase in SV upon exercise.  (+info)