Anaesthetic equipment for the first 6 months of life

No Abstract

Resuscitation of the newborn

Insufflatory resuscitation of a newborn baby that has not breathed presents many problems. These are dependent not only on the size and prematurity of the neonate, but on the amount of fluid which is present in the alveoli of the lungs, and the absence of the functional residual capacity (FRC). Before adequate gaseous exchange can take place the fluid must be driven out of the alveoli and the FRC established. Transpulmonary pressures as high as 80 cm H20 may be necessary. This places a unique demand on a resuscitator which can be used safely at birth. It must be able to achieve such pressures without injuring the lungs; yet once the FRC has been established, it must be able to adapt itself to the differing ventilatory equirements, without altering the blood chemistry of the neonate.S. Afr. Med. J., 48, 628 (1974)

Hypoventilation: Its dangers in general anaethesia

No Abstrac

Persistant apnoea associated with succinylcholine chloride

No Abstrac

Treatment of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury with an Erythropoietin-Mimetic Peptide

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) results in an estimated 75–90% of the 1.7 million TBI-related emergency room visits each year. Post-concussion symptoms, which can include impaired memory problems, may persist for prolonged periods of time in a fraction of these cases. The purpose of this study was to determine if an erythropoietin-mimetic peptide, pyroglutamate helix B surface peptide (pHBSP), would improve neurological outcomes following mTBI. Sixty-four rats were randomly assigned to pHBSP or control (inactive peptide) 30 μg/kg IP every 12 h for 3 days, starting at either 1 hour (early treatment) or 24 h (delayed treatment), after mTBI (cortical impact injury 3 m/sec, 2.5 mm deformation). Treatment with pHBSP resulted in significantly improved performance on the Morris water maze task. Rats that received pHBSP required 22.3±1.3 sec to find the platform, compared to 26.3±1.3 sec in control rats (p=0.022). The rats that received pHBSP also traveled a significantly shorter distance to get to the platform, 5.0±0.3 meters, compared to 6.1±0.3 meters in control rats (p=0.019). Motor tasks were only transiently impaired in this mTBI model, and no treatment effect on motor performance was observed with pHBSP. Despite the minimal tissue injury with this mTBI model, there was significant activation of inflammatory cells identified by labeling with CD68, which was reduced in the pHBSP-treated animals. The results suggest that pHBSP may improve cognitive function following mTBI