No abstract available.

The autonomic nervous system (ANS) contributes importantly to the short-term regulation of blood pressure and cardiovascular variability. Evidence from numerous studies indicates a strong association among compromised ANS, sudden cardiac death, blood pressure instability and adverse postoperative cardiac events. Heart rate variability (HRV), blood pressure variability (BPV) and baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) have been studied for years as tools for assessing ANS. In this review, physiological origin and measurement principle of cardiovascular fluctuations are described and changes in indices of HRV, BPV and BRS observed in various situations of anesthesia are discussed. Anesthesiologists need to consider estimation of ANS function to predict hypertension/hypotension after anesthesia induction and to improve short-term outcome and long-term cardiac morbidity and mortality.
Anesthesia ; Anesthesiology ; Autonomic Nervous System ; Baroreflex ; Blood Pressure ; Death, Sudden, Cardiac ; Heart ; Heart Rate

No abstract available.
Anesthesia* ; Liver Transplantation* ; Liver*

Pulmonary embolism (PE), which can originate as a consequence of deep vein thrombosis (DVT), is the most frequent and potentially fatal venous thromboembolic event. Despite the fact that the incidence of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in Asians is lower than that in the Western populations, a recent epidemiologic study demonstrates an increasing incidence of VTE in the Korean population. Anticoagulants, including low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) and vitamin K antagonist (VKAs), have been the main treatments for PE, however, recently new oral anticoagulants (NOACs) were introduced. We will review how well patients with PE can be managed with the existing anticoagulants and NOACs along with the time span of treatment, which still pose some challenges for clinicians.
Anticoagulants ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Heparin, Low-Molecular-Weight ; Humans ; Incidence ; Pulmonary Embolism ; Venous Thromboembolism ; Venous Thrombosis ; Vitamin K

No abstract available.
Anesthesia

No abstract available.
Anesthesia ; Natriuretic Peptide, Brain

Currently, hemodynamic monitoring system is developing rapidly, with many different devices now available, which makes anesthesiologists feel somewhat confused by the various possibilities and issue of noninvasiveness. By the order of degree of invasiveness, these devices can be classified into the highly invasive pulmonary artery catheter and the completely noninvasive bioimpedance/bioreactance technique and Doppler echocardiography. Recently, trans-cardiopulmonary thermodilution-derived hemodynamic parameters, such as global end-diastolic volume, global ejection fraction, cardiac function index, extravascular lung water, pulmonary vascular permeability index and its cardiac output, are available in anesthetic practice by PiCCO(R)(Pulsion Medical Systems) and VolumeView(R) (Edwards Life Sciences). This article provides objective review of the monitoring systems, as well as the advantages and limitations, in order to offer better management of the critically ill patients undergoing surgery.
Capillary Permeability ; Cardiac Output* ; Catheters ; Critical Illness ; Echocardiography, Doppler ; Extravascular Lung Water ; Hemodynamics* ; Humans ; Pulmonary Artery

BACKGROUND: Liver transplantation (LT) has become the treatment of choice for advanced liver disease. However, renal dysfunction often complicates the course of liver transplant recipients. The preoperative serum creatinine level have been shown to be an important predictor of a short-term graft and patient survival rates and the need for perioperative dialysis. This study examined the impact of the pretransplant renal function on the anesthetic characteristics and renal function after LT. METHODS: Patients undergoing LT were divided two groups according to the creatinine (Cr) level at time of LT. The following information was collected for each patient: age, etiology, weight and height, serum Cr, Cr clearance, patient survival, and cause of death. The laboratory data was collected at preoperative day, operation day and postoperative 1, 7, 30 days and 6 months. The hemodynamic profile was collected during LT. RESULTS: There were 27 patients in the renal dysfunction (RD) group. Ascites, total blood transfusion and fluid administration was significantly higher in the RD group. The hemodynamic parameters were similar in both groups. The BUN and Cr levels were significantly higher in the RD group in the perioperative period. At the preoperative period, the AST, ALT, bilirubin and prothrombin time was significantly higher in the RD group. The postoperative ICU stay and mortality rate was higher in the RD group. CONCLUSIONS: A pretransplant renal dysfunction is the result of deterioration in the liver function in the preoperative period, and indicates a greater requirement of blood and fluid during surgery.
Ascites ; Bilirubin ; Blood Transfusion ; Cause of Death ; Creatinine ; Dialysis ; Hemodynamics ; Humans ; Liver Diseases ; Liver Transplantation ; Liver* ; Mortality ; Perioperative Period ; Preoperative Period ; Prothrombin Time ; Survival Rate ; Transplantation ; Transplants

Despite the well-known bleeding diathesis in patients with end-stage liver disease, inappropriate hypercoagulation is also emerging as a major concern. Pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE) is a major cause of perioperative morbidity and mortality during liver transplantation (LT). Flat-line thromboelastography is reported to predict PTE during LT. In this case, a 52-year-old woman with hepatocellular carcinoma underwent living-related LT. During the pre-anhepatic phase, one unit of apheresis platelets was transfused because of thrombocytopenia (32,000 /ml). After 20 minutes, blood pressure became unstable and circulatory collapse suddenly developed. In the middle of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, transesophageal echocardiography was immediately conducted, which revealed flail thrombi in the right atrium. Rotational thromboelastometry (ROTEM) conducted at that time was surprisingly flat in 4 channels, contradictory to the finding of hypercoagulation. This finding lead to a management dilemma during LT. Flattening in ROTEM requires caution in interpretation of severe hypocoagulation or ongoing PTE.
Blood Component Removal ; Blood Platelets* ; Blood Pressure ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation ; Disease Susceptibility ; Echocardiography, Transesophageal ; Female ; Heart Atria ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Liver Diseases ; Liver Transplantation* ; Liver* ; Middle Aged ; Mortality ; Platelet Transfusion* ; Pulmonary Embolism* ; Shock ; Thrombelastography* ; Thrombocytopenia

BACKGROUND: A prolonged QT interval can lead to malignant ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death, and has frequently been found in end-stage liver disease (ESLD). However, myocardial repolarization lability has not yet been fully investigated. We evaluated the QT variability index (QTVI), a marker of temporal inhomogeneity in ventricular repolarization and an abnormality associated with re-entrant malignant ventricular arrhythmias. We determined whether QTVI is affected by the head-up tilt test in ESLD. METHODS: We assessed 36 ESLD patients and 12 control subjects without overt heart disease before and after the 70-degree head-up tilt test. The electrocardiography signal (lead II) was recorded on a computer with an analog-to-digital converter. The RR interval (RRI) and QT interval were measured after recording 5 min of the digitized electrocardiography. Then, the QT intervals were corrected with Bazett's formula (QTc). QTVI was calculated through the following formula: QTVI = log10 [(QTv/QTm2)/(RRIv/RRIm2)], QTv/RRIv: variance of QTI/RRI, QTm/RRIm: mean of QT interval/RRI. RESULTS: Cirrhotic patients exhibited an elevated QTVI. In particular, Child class C patients had a significantly increased QTVI compared to Child class A patients and the control subjects in the supine position. However, the head-up tilt test did not cause a significant difference in QTVI in relation to the severity of ESLD. CONCLUSIONS: Myocardial repolarization lability was significantly altered in end-stage liver disease. Our data suggest that the severity of ESLD is associated with the degree of the alteration in the QT variability index.
Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; Child ; Death, Sudden, Cardiac ; Electrocardiography ; Heart Diseases ; Humans ; Liver Diseases* ; Liver* ; Supine Position