BACKGROUND: Pulmonary complications including pneumonia and pulmonary edema frequently develop in critically ill surgical patients. Lung ultrasound (LUS) is increasingly used as a powerful diagnostic tool for pulmonary complications. The purpose of this study was to report how LUS is used in a surgical intensive care unit (ICU). METHODS: This study retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 67 patients who underwent LUS in surgical ICU between May 2016 and December 2016. RESULTS: The indication for LUS included hypoxemia (n = 44, 65.7%), abnormal chest radiographs without hypoxemia (n = 17, 25.4%), fever without both hypoxemia and abnormal chest radiographs (n = 4, 6.0%), and difficult weaning (n = 2, 3.0%). Among 67 patients, 55 patients were diagnosed with pulmonary edema (n = 27, 41.8%), pneumonia (n = 20, 29.9%), diffuse interstitial pattern with anterior consolidation (n = 6, 10.9%), pneumothorax with effusion (n = 1, 1.5%), and diaphragm dysfunction (n = 1, 1.5%), respectively, via LUS. LUS results did not indicate lung complications for 12 patients. Based on the location of space opacification on the chest radiographs, among 45 patients with bilateral abnormality and normal findings, three (6.7%) and two (4.4%) patients were finally diagnosed with pneumonia and atelectasis, respectively. Furthermore, among 34 patients with unilateral abnormality and normal findings, two patients (5.9%) were finally diagnosed with pulmonary edema. There were 27 patients who were initially diagnosed with pulmonary edema via LUS. This diagnosis was later confirmed by other tests. There were 20 patients who were initially diagnosed with pneumonia via LUS. Among them, 16 and 4 patients were finally diagnosed with pneumonia and atelectasis, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: LUS is useful to detect pulmonary complications including pulmonary edema and pneumonia in surgically ill patients.
Anoxia ; Critical Care* ; Critical Illness ; Diagnosis ; Diaphragm ; Fever ; Humans ; Lung* ; Medical Records ; Pneumonia ; Pneumothorax ; Pulmonary Atelectasis ; Pulmonary Edema ; Radiography, Thoracic ; Retrospective Studies ; Ultrasonography* ; Weaning

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary complications including pneumonia and pulmonary edema frequently develop in critically ill surgical patients. Lung ultrasound (LUS) is increasingly used as a powerful diagnostic tool for pulmonary complications. The purpose of this study was to report how LUS is used in a surgical intensive care unit (ICU). METHODS: This study retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 67 patients who underwent LUS in surgical ICU between May 2016 and December 2016. RESULTS: The indication for LUS included hypoxemia (n = 44, 65.7%), abnormal chest radiographs without hypoxemia (n = 17, 25.4%), fever without both hypoxemia and abnormal chest radiographs (n = 4, 6.0%), and difficult weaning (n = 2, 3.0%). Among 67 patients, 55 patients were diagnosed with pulmonary edema (n = 27, 41.8%), pneumonia (n = 20, 29.9%), diffuse interstitial pattern with anterior consolidation (n = 6, 10.9%), pneumothorax with effusion (n = 1, 1.5%), and diaphragm dysfunction (n = 1, 1.5%), respectively, via LUS. LUS results did not indicate lung complications for 12 patients. Based on the location of space opacification on the chest radiographs, among 45 patients with bilateral abnormality and normal findings, three (6.7%) and two (4.4%) patients were finally diagnosed with pneumonia and atelectasis, respectively. Furthermore, among 34 patients with unilateral abnormality and normal findings, two patients (5.9%) were finally diagnosed with pulmonary edema. There were 27 patients who were initially diagnosed with pulmonary edema via LUS. This diagnosis was later confirmed by other tests. There were 20 patients who were initially diagnosed with pneumonia via LUS. Among them, 16 and 4 patients were finally diagnosed with pneumonia and atelectasis, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: LUS is useful to detect pulmonary complications including pulmonary edema and pneumonia in surgically ill patients.
Anoxia ; Critical Care ; Critical Illness ; Diagnosis ; Diaphragm ; Fever ; Humans ; Lung ; Medical Records ; Pneumonia ; Pneumothorax ; Pulmonary Atelectasis ; Pulmonary Edema ; Radiography, Thoracic ; Retrospective Studies ; Ultrasonography ; Weaning

Graves disease (GD) can lead to complications such as cardiac arrhythmia and heart failure. Although dilated cardiomyopathy (DCMP) has been occasionally reported in adults with GD, it is rare in children. We present the case of a 32-month-old boy with DCMP due to GD. He presented with irritability, vomiting, and diarrhea. He also had a history of weight loss over the past few months. On physical examination, he had tachycardia without fever, a mild diffuse goiter, and hepatomegaly. The chest radiograph showed cardiomegaly with pulmonary edema, while the echocardiography revealed a dilated left ventricle with an ejection fraction (EF) of 28%. The thyroid function test (TFT) showed elevated serum T3 and decreased thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) levels. The TSH receptor autoantibody titer was elevated. He was diagnosed with DCMP with GD; treatment with methylprednisolone, diuretics, inotropics, and methimazole was initiated. The EF improved after the TFT normalized. At follow-up several months later, although the TFT results again showed evidence of hyperthyroidism, his EF had not deteriorated. His cardiac function continues to remain normal 1.5 months after treatment was started, although he still has elevated T3 and high TSH receptor antibody titer levels due to poor compliance with drug therapy. To summarize, we report a young child with GD-induced DCMP who recovered completely with medical therapy and, even though the hyperthyroidism recurred several months later, there was no relapse of the DCMP.
Adult ; Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; Cardiomegaly ; Cardiomyopathy, Dilated* ; Child* ; Child, Preschool ; Compliance ; Deoxycytidine Monophosphate ; Diarrhea ; Diuretics ; Drug Therapy ; Echocardiography ; Fever ; Follow-Up Studies ; Goiter ; Graves Disease* ; Heart Failure ; Heart Ventricles ; Hepatomegaly ; Humans ; Hyperthyroidism ; Male ; Methimazole ; Methylprednisolone ; Physical Examination ; Pulmonary Edema ; Radiography, Thoracic ; Receptors, Thyrotropin ; Recurrence ; Tachycardia ; Thyroid Function Tests ; Thyrotropin ; Vomiting ; Weight Loss

Graves disease (GD) can lead to complications such as cardiac arrhythmia and heart failure. Although dilated cardiomyopathy (DCMP) has been occasionally reported in adults with GD, it is rare in children. We present the case of a 32-month-old boy with DCMP due to GD. He presented with irritability, vomiting, and diarrhea. He also had a history of weight loss over the past few months. On physical examination, he had tachycardia without fever, a mild diffuse goiter, and hepatomegaly. The chest radiograph showed cardiomegaly with pulmonary edema, while the echocardiography revealed a dilated left ventricle with an ejection fraction (EF) of 28%. The thyroid function test (TFT) showed elevated serum T3 and decreased thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) levels. The TSH receptor autoantibody titer was elevated. He was diagnosed with DCMP with GD; treatment with methylprednisolone, diuretics, inotropics, and methimazole was initiated. The EF improved after the TFT normalized. At follow-up several months later, although the TFT results again showed evidence of hyperthyroidism, his EF had not deteriorated. His cardiac function continues to remain normal 1.5 months after treatment was started, although he still has elevated T3 and high TSH receptor antibody titer levels due to poor compliance with drug therapy. To summarize, we report a young child with GD-induced DCMP who recovered completely with medical therapy and, even though the hyperthyroidism recurred several months later, there was no relapse of the DCMP.
Adult ; Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; Cardiomegaly ; Cardiomyopathy, Dilated* ; Child* ; Child, Preschool ; Compliance ; Deoxycytidine Monophosphate ; Diarrhea ; Diuretics ; Drug Therapy ; Echocardiography ; Fever ; Follow-Up Studies ; Goiter ; Graves Disease* ; Heart Failure ; Heart Ventricles ; Hepatomegaly ; Humans ; Hyperthyroidism ; Male ; Methimazole ; Methylprednisolone ; Physical Examination ; Pulmonary Edema ; Radiography, Thoracic ; Receptors, Thyrotropin ; Recurrence ; Tachycardia ; Thyroid Function Tests ; Thyrotropin ; Vomiting ; Weight Loss

OBJECTIVETo analyze the clinical characteristics of negative pressure pulmonary edema (NPPE).

METHODA retrospective investigation of the clinical manifestation, imageology, clinical course and outcome of 4 children with NPPE seen between June 2012 and July 2013 in a children's hospital. The causation of the airway obstruction was also explored.

RESULTAll the 4 cases were boys, the range of age was 40 days to 9 years. They had no history of respiratory and circulatory system disease. In 3 cases the disease had a sudden onset after the obstruction of airway, and in one the onset occurred 1.5 hours after removing the airway foreign body. All these cases presented with tachypnea, dyspnea, and cyanosis, none had fever. Three cases had coarse rales. Chest radiography was performed in 3 cases and CT scan was performed in 1 case, in all of them both lungs displayed diffuse ground-glass-like change and patchy consolidative infiltrates. Three cases were admitted to the ICU, duration of mechanical ventilation was less than 24 hours in 2 cases and 39 hours in one. Oxygen was given by mask to the remaining one in emergency department, whose symptoms were obviously improved in 10 hours. None was treated with diuretics, glucocorticoids or inotropic agents. Chest radiographs were taken within 24 hours of treatment in 2 cases and 24-48 hours in the other 2; almost all the pulmonary infiltrates were resolved. All the 4 cases were cured. The causes of airway obstruction were airway foreign bodies in two cases, laryngospasm in one and laryngomalacia in the other.

CONCLUSIONNPPE is a life-threatening emergency, which is manifested by rapid onset of respiratory distress rapidly (usually in several minutes, but might be hours later) after relief of the airway obstruction, with findings of pulmonary edema in chest radiograph. The symptoms resolve rapidly by oxygen therapy timely with or without mechanical ventilation. In children with airway obstruction, NPPE should be considered.

Acute Disease ; Airway Obstruction ; complications ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Foreign Bodies ; complications ; Humans ; Infant ; Intensive Care Units ; Intubation, Intratracheal ; methods ; Laryngismus ; complications ; Larynx ; Lung ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Male ; Oxygen Inhalation Therapy ; Positive-Pressure Respiration ; methods ; Pulmonary Edema ; diagnosis ; etiology ; therapy ; Radiography, Thoracic ; Retrospective Studies ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

OBJECTIVETo investigate the clinical characteristics and treatment of negative pressure pulmonary edema (NPPE) with upper airway obstruction (UAO) in children.

METHODData of 3 cases with NPPE and UAO in pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) from Mar, 2007 to May, 2013 were analyzed.

RESULT(1) Two cases were male and 1 was female with age respectively 6, 16 and 30 months.One had airway foreign body , 1 laryngitis , and 1 retropharyngeal abscess. The onset of NPPE varied from 5 to 40 minutes following relief of obstruction. (2) NPPE presented with acute respiratory distress with signs of tachypnea, tachycardia, 2 of the 3 with pink frothy pulmonary secretions, progressively decreased oxygen saturation, rales on chest auscultation and wheezing. (3) NPPE chest radiograph showed diffuse interstitial and alveolar infiltrates, images confirmed pulmonary edema. (4) All these patients received these therapeutic measures including mechanical ventilation, retaining high PEEP, diuretics, limiting the fluid input volume to 80-90 ml/ (kg×d) on the basis of circulation stability. The rales on chest auscultation disappeared after 10, 6, 12 hours. The ventilators of 2 patients were removed within 24 hours, in another case it was removed 50 hours later because of secondary infection. All patients were cured and discharged without complication.

CONCLUSIONNPPE progresses very fast, characterized by rapid onset of symptoms of respiratory distress after UAO, with pulmonary edema on chest radiograph. The symptoms resolve rapidly if early support of breath and diuretics are applied properly.

Acute Disease ; Airway Obstruction ; complications ; Child, Preschool ; Diuretics ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Foreign Bodies ; complications ; Humans ; Infant ; Laryngismus ; complications ; Male ; Positive-Pressure Respiration ; Postoperative Complications ; etiology ; physiopathology ; therapy ; Pulmonary Edema ; diagnosis ; etiology ; physiopathology ; therapy ; Radiography, Thoracic ; Retrospective Studies

A 59-year-old man with a history of major depression was found by his wife to be unconscious and foaming at the mouth. On arrival at the emergency department, the patient was noted to be unresponsive. Computed tomography of the brain showed symmetrical ill-defined areas of hypoattenuation involving the medial aspects of both lentiform nuclei, while magnetic resonance images of the brain showed symmetrical increased signal in the bilateral globi pallidi on diffusion weighted, T2-weighted and fluid attenuated inversion recovery sequences. These findings were those of acute carbon monoxide poisoning. Despite aggressive treatment, the patient's condition continued to deteriorate and he eventually passed away. The various imaging findings of carbon monoxide poisoning in the brain and the differential diagnoses are discussed.
Brain ; diagnostic imaging ; Carbon Monoxide Poisoning ; diagnosis ; diagnostic imaging ; Depressive Disorder, Major ; complications ; Diagnostic Imaging ; Fatal Outcome ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pulmonary Edema ; pathology ; Radiography, Thoracic ; Suicide, Attempted ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Cyclophosphamide (CP) is a promising treatment for severe cases of paraquat (PQ) poisoning. We investigated the effective dose of CP for mitigating PQ-induced lung injury. METHODS: Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were allocated into five groups: control, PQ (35 mg/kg, intraperitoneal injection), and PQ + CP (1.5, 15, or 30 mg/kg). The dimensions of lung lesions were determined using X-ray microtomography (micro-CT), and histological changes and cytokine levels were recorded. RESULTS: The micro-CT results showed that 15 mg/kg CP was more effective than 1.5 mg/kg CP for treating PQ-induced lung injury. At a dose of 1.5 mg/kg, CP alleviated the histological evidence of inflammation and altered superoxide dismutase activity. Using 15 mg/kg CP reduced the elevated catalase activity and serum transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta1 level. CONCLUSIONS: A CP dose of > 15 mg/kg is effective for reducing the severity of PQ-induced lung injury as determined by histological and micro-CT tissue examination, possibly by modulating antioxidant enzyme and TGF-beta1 levels.
Animals ; Catalase/metabolism ; Cyclophosphamide/*pharmacology ; Cytokines/metabolism ; Disease Models, Animal ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Immunosuppressive Agents/*pharmacology ; Inflammation Mediators/metabolism ; Lung/*drug effects/metabolism/pathology/radiography ; Lung Injury/chemically induced/diagnosis/*drug therapy/metabolism ; Male ; Oxidative Stress/drug effects ; *Paraquat ; Pulmonary Edema/chemically induced/diagnosis/*drug therapy/metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Severity of Illness Index ; Superoxide Dismutase/metabolism ; Transforming Growth Factor beta1/metabolism ; X-Ray Microtomography

Diabetes mellitus is responsible for diverse cardiovascular complications such as accelerated atherosclerosis, increased plaque burden and diffuse coronary lesions. It is also a major risk factor for myocardial infarction, stroke and peripheral vascular disease. Here, we present two cases. The first patient had subtle changes in the ECGs, with severe coronary artery disease requiring coronary artery bypass grafting, while the second had deep T wave inversion in the ECG and was found to have normal coronary arteries and nonischaemic cardiomyopathy. Although ECG failed to show the severity of the disease, it is invaluable as a simple, noninvasive test to aid in diagnosis. Our two cases stress the importance of a high index of suspicion and the low threshold for investigations in the diabetic population.
Aged ; Biomarkers ; analysis ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Coronary Angiography ; Coronary Artery Bypass ; Coronary Stenosis ; diagnosis ; therapy ; Diabetes Complications ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; surgery ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Electrocardiography ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pulmonary Edema ; diagnosis ; therapy ; Radiography, Thoracic

Neurogenic pulmonary edema (NPE) leading to cardiopulmonary dysfunction is a potentially life-threatening complication in patients with central nervous system lesions. This case report describes a 28-yr woman with life-threatening fulminant NPE, which was refractory to conventional respiratory treatment, following the rupture of an aneurysm. She was treated successfully with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), although ECMO therapy is generally contraindicated in neurological injuries such as brain trauma and diseases that are likely to require surgical intervention. The success of this treatment suggests that ECMO therapy should not be withheld from patients with life-threatening fulminant NPE after subarachnoid hemorrhage.
Adult ; Brain/radiography ; Decompressive Craniectomy ; Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation ; Female ; Humans ; Intracranial Aneurysm/complications/*diagnosis ; Pulmonary Edema/*diagnosis/etiology/therapy ; Subarachnoid Hemorrhage/etiology ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed