Neuromuscular blockade plays an important role in the safe management of patient airways, surgical field improvement, and respiratory care. Rapid-sequence induction of anesthesia is indispensable to emergency surgery and obstetric anesthesia, and its purpose is to obtain a stable airway, adequate depth of anesthesia, and appropriate respiration within a short period of time without causing irritation or damage to the patient. There has been a continued search for new neuromuscular blocking drugs (NMBDs) with a rapid onset of action. Factors that affect the onset time include the potency of the NMBDs, the rate of NMBDs reaching the effect site, the onset time by dose control, metabolism and elimination of NMBDs, buffered diffusion to the effect site, nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunit affinity, drugs that affect acetylcholine (ACh) production and release at the neuromuscular junction, drugs that inhibit plasma cholinesterase, presynaptic receptors responsible for ACh release at the neuromuscular junction, anesthetics or drugs that affect muscle contractility, site and methods for monitoring neuromuscular function, individual variability, and coexisting disease. NMBDs with rapid onset without major adverse events are expected in the next few years, and the development of lower potency NMBDs will continue. Anesthesiologists should be aware of the use of NMBDs in the management of anesthesia. The choice of NMBD and determination of the appropriate dosage to modulate neuromuscular blockade characteristics such as onset time and duration of neuromuscular blockade should be considered along with factors that affect the effects of the NMBDs. In this review, we discuss the factors that affect the onset time of NMBDs.
Acetylcholine ; Anesthesia ; Anesthesia, Obstetrical ; Anesthetics ; Cholinesterases ; Diffusion ; Drug Interactions ; Emergencies ; Humans ; Metabolism ; Neuromuscular Blockade* ; Neuromuscular Blocking Agents* ; Neuromuscular Junction ; Neuromuscular Monitoring ; Pharmacokinetics ; Plasma ; Receptors, Nicotinic ; Receptors, Presynaptic ; Respiration

Metachronous double cancer of primary early esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and invasive thymoma is a very rare condition. The invasive thymoma had been detected during the myathenia gravis evaluation and treated by radiation therapy 5 years ago. The esophageal lesion had a nodular-surfaced flat elevation at the mid-esophagus that was found by esophagoscopy. Radical resection for the lesions was undertaken after histologic confirmation. Postoperative pathologic examination documented that the esophageal squamous cell carcinoma was in the "early" stage involving the mucosal and submucosal layer only. We report a case of early esophageal cancer associated with invasive thyrnoma with literatures review.
Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Esophageal Neoplasms* ; Esophagoscopy ; Thymoma*

We describe a rare case of cerebral venous thrombosis and liver infarction with HELLP syndrome in a 25-year-old woman with eclampsia. She had complained of epigastric pain and had visited a local hospital for treatment. Also, signs of fetal distress were presented. After an emergency cesarean section, generalized tonic-clonic seizure occurred twice at a 10-minute interval. The patients was transferred to our emergency room, and the neurologic examination at that time, revealed a deep drowsy mentality and positive Babinski's sign; the deep tendon reflex was two positive. The laboratory findings revealed thrombocytopenia, an elevated liver function test, abnormal coagulation profiles. A bilateral ischemic change with left basal ganglia hemorrhage was seen on brain CT, and multiple foci of ill defined low-density lesions, mainly in the subcapsular portion of the liver and perivascular space, were visible on the abdominal CT. There was a faint showing of the deep venous system on the angiogram of both carotid arteries and a cerebral venous thrombosis was confirmed by using 4-vessel angiography. During the following 2 days, the cerebral hemorrhage and the low-density lesion were resolved through applications of heparin, and the patient returned to a nearly alert mental status. Finally she died of a hemorrhagic shock as a complication of disseminated intravascular coagulation.
Adult ; Angiography ; Basal Ganglia Hemorrhage ; Brain ; Carotid Arteries ; Cerebral Hemorrhage ; Cesarean Section ; Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation ; Eclampsia ; Emergencies ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Female ; Fetal Distress ; HELLP Syndrome* ; Heparin ; Humans ; Infarction* ; Intracranial Thrombosis ; Liver Function Tests ; Liver* ; Neurologic Examination ; Pregnancy ; Reflex, Babinski ; Reflex, Stretch ; Seizures ; Shock, Hemorrhagic ; Thrombocytopenia ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Venous Thrombosis*

Systemic sclerosis is an autoimmune disease, characterized by inflammation, microangiopathy and fibrosis in the skin and various intestinal organs. Gastrointestinal involvement is one of the major causes of serious morbidity, and next to the skin, the gastrointestinal tract is the most commonly involved organ. While esophageal involvement is most common gastrointestinal manifestation, the involvement of the small intestine and colon is less common but may lead to life-threatening complications like chronic pesudoobstruction or pneumatosis cystoids intestinalis. Here, we describe a case of progressive systemic sclerosis associated with intestinal pseudoobstruction. 28 year-old male presented abdominal pain and vomiting and he was diagnosed as having intestinal pseudoobstruction. His symptoms were well managed using the combination of octreotide, a long-acting somatostatin analogue, and erythromycin.
Abdominal Pain ; Adult ; Autoimmune Diseases ; Colon ; Erythromycin* ; Fibrosis ; Gastrointestinal Tract ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Intestinal Pseudo-Obstruction* ; Intestine, Small ; Male ; Octreotide* ; Scleroderma, Diffuse ; Scleroderma, Systemic* ; Skin ; Somatostatin ; Vomiting

PURPOSE: This study was conducted for investigation of the recovery rate and prognostic factors of Bell's palsy treated with steroid and antiviral agents in the emergency department (ED). METHODS: A retrospective review of electronic medical records of patients with acute, unilateral Bell's palsy within 72 hrs of onset who were admitted from the ED between March 2008 and February 2010 was conducted. All patients were treated uniformly with high-dose steroid and valaciclovir. The House-Brackmann (HB) grading system was used for evaluation of the severity of facial palsy. Satisfactory recovery was defined as facial palsy that recovered to Grade I on the HB grading scale. RESULTS: During the three-year period, 231 patients (age, 51+/-15) with confirmed Bell's palsy were included in this study. Initial grade of paralysis was as follows: 43 patients (18.6%) were HB grade II, 107 patients (46.3%) were grade III, 72 patients (31.2%) were grade IV, and nine patients (3.9%) were grade V. The satisfactory recovery rate was 77.9% at three months, and 88.3% at 12 months from diagnosis. Satisfactory recovery rate was significantly lower in patients with initial HB grade III/IV (85.2% vs. 92.7%, p<0.01), and age over 40 years (85.72% vs. 95.2%, p=0.04). CONCLUSION: The satisfactory recovery rate of patients with Bell's palsy treated with steroid and antiviral agents was 77.9% at three months, and 88.3% at 12 months, and initial severity was found to be an important factor in predicting the long term prognosis of Bell's palsy.
Acyclovir ; Antiviral Agents ; Bell Palsy ; Electronic Health Records ; Emergencies ; Facial Nerve ; Facial Paralysis ; Humans ; Paralysis ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Valine

PURPOSE: To assess the usefulness of intracellular pH (pHi), calculated by determining the shift of a high-energy metabolite such as inorganic phosphate (Pi) or gamma-ATP after performing MRS with ECG-gated two-dimensional 31P CSI (chemical shift imaging), as a parameter for the overall state of the intracellular milieu. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Proton decoupled 31P CSI was performed on a 1.5-T scanner using a (1)H-(31)P dual-tuned surface coil. Cardiac MRS data were obtained from eight normal volunteers aged 24-32 years with no history of heart disease. From the spectra obtained from several regions of the heart, peak position and peak area were estimated. The metabolic ratios of alpha-, beta-, gamma-ATP, PCr, Pi, phosphodiester and diphosphoglycerate were calculated, and pHi was estimated from the chemical shift of Pi and gamma-ATP resonance. We then compared the data for the anterior myocardium with those previously published. RESULTS: The major phosphorous metabolites identified in these human hearts were as follows: PCr, at -0.1 to +0.1 ppm; three phosphate peaks from ATP, with a chemical shift centered at about -2.7 ppm (gamma-ATP), -7.8 ppm (alpha-ATP), and -16.3 ppm (beta-ATP); and phosphodiester (PDE) at 2-3 ppm, inorganic phosphate (Pi) at 4.5-5.4 ppm, and diphosphoglycerate (DPG) at 5.4-6.3 ppm. The PCr/beta-ATP ratio was 2.20+/-0.17 and the PDE/beta-ATP ratio, 1.04+/-0.09. pHi readings were 7.31+/-0.23 (calculated by the shift of Pi) and 6.81+/-0.20 (calculated by the shift of gamma-ATP). Pi/PCR was 0.539, a ratio higher than that mentioned in previously published reports. CONCLUSION: The measurement of intracelluar metabolism was affected by various kinds of factors. We believe, however, that pHi readings indicate the overall state of the cardiac intracelluar milieu. An unexpected pHi readings, seen at MRS, may reflect errors in the MR procedure itself and, or in the alanytical method.
Adenosine Triphosphate ; Healthy Volunteers ; Heart Diseases ; Heart* ; Humans* ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration* ; Metabolism ; Myocardium ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Protons ; Reading