To the Editor: We read with interest the comments and suggestions of Dr Sangwan; however, a number of the issues he raised need to be clarified. A fiberoptic bronchoscope is commonly used during percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy (PDT) throughout Europe.1 Recent surveys performed in Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom report that a fiberoptic bronchoscope is used to guide PDT in 90% of n...

Patient was sedated with fentanyl and midazolam. Oral cavity and pharynx were locally anesthetized with lidocaine. The ET tube was withdrawn as tube cuff was placed between vocal cords using bronchoscope. Angiocath was inserted between the first and second tracheal cartilages and a guidewire was inserted through it.. The angiocath was then withdrawn and dilator was guided to trachea.. During in...

, providing long-term follow-up. 6 I find it impossible to account for the spectrum of systemic responses to Histoplasma capsulatum—PDH; seropositive, paucibacillary PDH, failing treatment with amphotericin B and responding to CST; and seropositive, otherwise typical sarcoidosis appearing or recru-descing in a setting of endemic histoplasmosis— other than by postulating a deficiency gradient in...

INTRODUCTION Tracheostomy is one of the more commonly performed procedures in critically ill patients yet the optimal method of performing tracheostomies in this population remains to be established. The aim of this study was to systematically review and quantitatively synthesize all randomized clinical trials (RCTs), comparing elective percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy (PDT) and surgical ...

BACKGROUND Over the past 15 years, many large university hospitals have reported their experience with percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy (PDT). The purposes of this study are to evaluate the safety of PDT in a non-university hospital setting and to compare our results with those published in the literature. METHODS The study was done by retrospective chart review. RESULTS Over a 6-year...

To the Editor: I read with great interest the article by Vargas et al1 regarding a double lumen endotracheal tube (DLET) for percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy (PDT). The authors present their version of a DLET device designed to permit continuous bronchoscopy during PDT while allowing for better gas exchange by removing the bronchoscope from inside the patient’s endotracheal tube (ETT). Th...