The patient was a 71-year-old man who had been treated for Parkinson's disease for 21 years. He was admitted because nocturnal dyspnea occurred several times. Echocardiography revealed congestive heart failure because of combined mitral and aortic regurgitation. Double valve replacement was planned. There was a risk of the occurrence of neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) if his drugs for Parkinson's disease were stopped suddenly, so careful control of drug doses was required. Although the patient developed aggravation of his Parkinson's symptoms, careful observation and adjustment of medications prevented the occurrence of NMS.

PURPOSE: Atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) has a variety of pharmacologic effects, including natriuresis, diuresis, vasodilatation, and suppression of the renin-angiotensin system. A recent study showed that ANP infusion improved hypoxemia and pulmonary hypertension in a lung injury model. On the other hand, the pulse contour cardiac output (PiCCO(TM)) system (Pulsion Medical Systems, Munich, Germany) allows monitoring of the intravascular volume status and may be used to guide volume therapy in severe sepsis and critically ill patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We treated 10 pulmonary edema patients without heart disease with human ANP (HANP). The patients were divided into two groups: a group with normal Intrathoracic Blood Volume (ITBV) (900-1100 mL/m2) (n = 6), and a group with abnormal ITBV (n = 4), as measured by the PiCCOtrade mark device; the extravascular lung water (EVLW) and pulmonary vascular permeability index (PVPI) in the two groups were compared. RESULTS: The average patient age was 63.9 +/- 14.4 years. The normal ITBV group showed significant improvement of the EVLW (before, 16.7 +/- 2.7 mL/kg; after, 10.5 +/- 3.6 mL/kg; p = 0.0020) and PVPI (before, 3.2 +/- 0.3; after, 2.1 +/- 0.7; p = 0.0214) after the treatment. The abnormal ITBV group showed no significant improvement of either the EVLW (before, 16.3 +/- 8.9 mL/kg; after, 18.8 +/- 9.6 mL/kg; p = 0.8387) or PVPI (before, 2.3 +/- 0.8; after, 2.7 +/- 1.3; p = 0.2782) after the treatment. In both groups, the EVLW and PVPI were strongly correlated with the chest X-ray findings. CONCLUSION: We conclude that HANP supplementation may improve the EVLW and PVPI in pulmonary edema patients without heart disease with a normal ITBV. The PiCCO(TM) system seems to be a useful device for the management of pulmonary edema.
Aged ; Atrial Natriuretic Factor/administration & dosage/*therapeutic use ; Cardiac Output/*drug effects/*physiology ; Female ; Humans ; Injections, Intravenous ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Monitoring, Physiologic/*instrumentation ; Pulmonary Edema/*drug therapy/*physiopathology

PURPOSE: Few reports have been made on the therapeutic effects as well as pathological features of an antithrombin preparation in patients diagnosed with septic disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) by the diagnostic criteria for acute DIC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 88 sepsis patients who had received inpatient hospital care during the period from January 2000 through December 2008 were divided into two groups, an antithrombin group and a non-antithrombin group, to study the outcomes. Furthermore, the relationship between sepsis-related factors and DIC in 44 patients was studied. RESULTS: The antithrombin group contained 34 patients, and the non-antithrombin group contained 54 patients. The outcomes were significantly better in the antithrombin group. The levels of protein C were low in DIC patients. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that early administration of antithrombin might improve outcomes of septic DIC patients in the diagnostic criteria for Japanese Association for Acute Medicine acute DIC.
Aged ; Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation/complications/diagnosis/*drug therapy ; Female ; Fibrinolytic Agents/*therapeutic use ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Sepsis/complications/diagnosis/*drug therapy ; Time Factors ; Treatment Outcome