Ventilator autocycling can occur with any ventilator if the sensitivity is improperly set or if a gas leak exists in the respiratory system which creates a negative change in proximal airway pressure. We report a case of ventilator autocycling in a paralyzed patient secondary to an endotracheal cuff leak which was misconstrued as assisted ventilation. We believe this is the first report of auto...

Background/Introduction Prolonged air leak following lung resection leads to delayed discharge and increases risk of infection. The incidence of prolonged air leak (defined as greater than 7 days) is approx. 9% in the U.K. (SCTS Cardiothoracic Surgery database 2011). The Covidien Tri-staplerTM technology (Covidien, Mansfield, MA) claims to improve air leak rates following lung resection through...

Paravalvular leak following a mitral valve replacement is a complication seen in approximately 1 of 10 replacements. The corrective method has traditionally been reoperation. Septal occluder devices are more commonly being utilized as an alternative percutaneous correction method. We report the use of septal occluder devices in the repair of mitral paravalvular leak in two patients at severely ...

Mitochondria couple respiration to ATP synthesis through an electrochemical proton gradient. Proton leak across the inner membrane allows adjustment of the coupling efficiency. The aim of this review is threefold: 1) introduce the unfamiliar reader to proton leak and its physiological significance, 2) review the role and regulation of uncoupling proteins, and 3) outline the prospects of proton ...

A 40-year-old woman was referred to our hospital with severe hypovolemic shock and anasarca. The laboratory findings showed marked hemoconcentration and a decrease in total serum protein with the presence of monoclonal IgG-lambda. She had had a similar episode of generalized edema 2 years previously. We diagnosed the patient as having typical systemic capillary leak syndrome (SCLS) and she impr...

Leakage of confidential information represents a serious security risk. Despite a number of novel, theoretical advances, it has been unclear if and how quantitative approaches to measuring leakage of confidential information could be applied to substantial, real-world programs. This is mostly due to the high complexity of computing precise leakage quantities. In this paper, we introduce a techn...

Leak detection systems range from simple, visual line walking and checking ones to complex arrangements of hard-ware and software. No one method is universally applicable and operating requirements dictate which method is the most cost effective. The aim of the paper is to review the basic techniques of leak detection that are currently in use. The advantages and disadvantages of each method ar...