Purpose. Granulocyte transfusions have been used to treat immune cell dysfunction in sepsis. A granulocyte bioreactor for the extracorporeal treatment of sepsis was tested in a prospective clinical study focusing on the dosage of norepinephrine in patients and influence on dynamic and cell based liver tests during extracorporeal therapies. Methods and Patients. Ten patients with severe sepsis w...

OBJECTIVE Cardiac surgical operations involving extracorporeal circulation may develop severe inflammatory response. This severe inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) is usually associated with poor outcome with no predictive marker. Red cell distribution width (RDW) is a routine hematological marker with a role in inflammation. We aim to determine the relationship between RDW and SIRS through ...

BACKGROUND There is conflicting evidence regarding extracorporeal shock wave treatment for chronic tennis elbow. HYPOTHESIS Treatment with repetitive low-energy extracorporeal shock wave treatment is superior to repetitive placebo extra-corporeal shock wave treatment. METHODS Seventy-eight patients enrolled in a placebo-controlled trial. All patients were tennis players with recalcitrant MR...

BACKGROUND To evaluate the advantages and benefits of a minimized extracorporeal circulation system in the performance of coronary artery bypass grafts. METHODS From September 2000 to February 2003, 279 consecutive patients underwent isolated coronary artery bypass grafting with minimal extracorporeal circulation. A group of 243 patients at good risk as defined by a Euro- SCORE of 3 underwent...

Involvement of the kinin system was studied in 58 patients during extracorporeal circulation in open heart surgery. At the onset of extracorporeal circulation, there was no increase of free kinin in blood and no reduction of plasma kininogen, when the latter was expressed as mug bradykinin/mg plasma protein. With the lapse of time, kinin in the blood increased significantly, and decrease of kin...

OBJECTIVE To report Hong Kong's experience on the use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for the treatment of acute respiratory distress syndrome caused by influenza A (H1N1). DESIGN Multi-centred, retrospective observational study. SETTING Intensive care units in Hong Kong. PATIENTS Recipients of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for confirmed influenza A (H1N1) infection from 1 Ma...

AIMS This study investigated the long-term efficacy of a half-day extracorporeal membrane oxygenation simulation and low-cost vascular model for practitioner knowledge, skills, and attitudes in clinical settings and also assessed the usefulness of the vascular model. METHODS We included participants who attended a half-day extracorporeal membrane oxygenation simulation focused on the veno-art...

BACKGROUND Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) or pumpless extracorporeal lung assist (pECLA) requires effective anticoagulation. Knowledge on the use of argatroban in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) undergoing ECMO or pECLA is limited. Therefore, this study assessed the feasibility, efficacy and safety of argatroban in critically ill ARDS patients undergoing ext...

PURPOSE We determined the incidence of infectious complications (asymptomatic bacteriuria, urinary tract infection and urosepsis) in patients without associated risk factors treated with extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy. MATERIALS AND METHODS We performed an observational, prospective cohort study between October 2010 and June 2013. We included all patients without risk factors who were ...