OBJECTIVE We evaluated the potential benefit of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) to prevent postoperative pulmonary complications (PPCs), atelectasis, pneumonia, and intubation in patients undergoing major abdominal surgery. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA PPCs are common during the postoperative period and may be associated with a high morbidity rate. Efficacy of CPAP to prevent PPCs occur...

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to determine whether contrast enhancement features on 3D volumetric gradient-recalled echoMR images allow differentiation of benign from malignant solitary pulmonary nodules. MATERIALS AND METHODS Forty patients with solitary pulmonary nodules (range of greatest diameter, 7-40 mm) detected on CT underwent unenhanced MRI and contrast-enhanced MRI perform...

Rounded atelectasis is an atelectasis of a peripheral part of the lung due to pleural adhesions and fibrosis causing deformation of the lung and bending of some small bronchi. From 1970 to 1986, some 74 patients with rounded atelectasis have been seen at the Lung Department. Sixty-four of these patients had been exposed to asbestos. The lesion was secondary to a benign asbestos pleurisy in nine...

Insufficient control of post-thoracotomy pain can produce breathing dysfunction and long term staying in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). It can increase the incidence of pulmonary complications such as atelectasis, pneumonia and respiratory failure. The aim of this study was to determine the analgesic effect of continuous extrapleural nerve block, using ropivacaine, in neonates younger tha...

Obesity is a risk factor intrinsic to the development of areas of atelectasis, especially when the patient undergoes to general anesthesia and, therefore, some groups of studies has been dedicated to studying such subject. The recently published letter to the editor comments on and points out some aspects regarding the article on the prevalence of atelectasis in the obese Grade III submitted to...

Rounded atelectasis of the lung (RA) is a lesion well described in the medical literature, yet often very difficult to diagnose. In recent years, the widespread use of high-resolution imaging modalities employed in the struggle against cancer, coinciding with the peak of the asbestos epidemic, have boosted the detection frequency of RA. However, its differential diagnosis still poses a challeng...

Before discussing the pathogenesis of atelectasis, three illustrative cases are described, each having a different aetiology. It is proposed to show later that even though the precipitating factor in each of the cases is different, the ultimate mechanism by' which atelectasis is produced is essentially the same. Case 1? A male, aged 26 years, was, admitted to hospital for fever and cough of 10 ...

INTRODUCTION No evidence based treatment is available for atelectasis. We aimed to evaluate the clinical and radiologic changes in pediatric patients who received DNase for persistent atelectasis that could not be attributed to cardiovascular causes, and who were unresponsive to treatment with inhaled bronchodilators and physiotherapy. METHODS All non-cystic fibrosis pediatric patients who re...

BACKGROUND Mechanical ventilation (MV) strategies are continuously evolving in an effort to minimize adverse events. The objective of this study was to determine the complications associated with MV in children. STUDY DESIGN Prospective observational study. Over a period of 10 consecutive months, 150 patients (median age 0.8 years, IQR 4.4, 59% male) were enrolled in this study. RESULTS The...

BACKGROUND Heart surgery is associated with an occurrence of pulmonary complications. The aim of this study was to determine whether pre-surgery respiratory physiotherapy reduces the incidence of post-surgery pulmonary complications. METHODS Observational study of 263 patients submitted to off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery at the A Coruña University Hospital (Spain). 159...