Usefulness of the Endotoxin Activity Assay to Evaluate the Degree of Lung Injury

PURPOSE: It has been reported that the Pulse Contour Cardiac Output (PiCCO) is very useful mainly in the field of intensive care and treatment to grasp the pathophysiological conditions of pulmonary edema because of its capability of obtaining data such as Pulmonary Vascular Permeability Index (PVPI) and Extra Vascular Lung Water (EVLW). Furthermore, a high degree of usability of various markers has been reported for better understanding of the pathological conditions in cases with septicemia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The correlation between the cardiorespiratory status based upon the PiCCO monitor (EVLW and PVPI) and inflammatory markers including C reactive protein, procalcitonin (PC), and Endotoxin Activity Assay (EAA) were evaluated in 11 severe cases that required treatment with a respirator in an intensive care unit. RESULTS: The EAA values were significantly higher in patients with abnormal EVLW at 0.46+/-0.20 compared to the normal EVLW group at 0.21+/-0.19 (p=0.0064). In a similar fashion, patients with abnormal PVPI values tended to have higher PC levels at 18.9+/-21.8 compared to normal PVPI cases at 2.4+/-2.2 (p=0.0676). On the other hand, PVPI was significantly higher in the abnormal EAA group at 3.55+/-0.48 in comparison with the normal EAA group at 1.99+/-0.68 (p=0.0029). The abnormal EAA group tended to have higher PVPI values than the normal EAA group. CONCLUSION: The EAA is a measurement method designed to estimate the activity of endotoxins in the whole blood. Our results suggest that the EAA value, which had the greatest correlation with lung disorders diagnosed by the PiCCO monitoring, reflects inflammatory reactions predominantly in the lungs.

Transpulmonary thermodilution for evaluating respiratory function in swine after severe acute dichlorvos poisoning / 中华急诊医学杂志

Objective In order to extrapolate the respiratory dysfunction of patients in early stage of acute organophosphorus pesticide poisoning (AOPP),transpulmonary thermodilution technique was used in swine models of severe acute dichlorvos poisoning (SADP) to evaluate respiratory function.Methods Twenty healthy female swine were randomly divided into dichlorvos ( n =7 ),atropine ( n =7 ) and control (n =6) groups.In the dichlorvos group,the swine were administered with 80％ emulsified dichlorvos (100mg/kg) via the gastric tube toinduce SADP.In the atropine group,swinewere administered with dichlorvos,and 0.5h later,atropine was injected to obtain and maintain atropinization.The swine of control group were administered with saline solution instead.Arterial and venous blood samples were collected 0,0.5,1,2,4 and 6 hours after modeling for blood gas analysis and detecting acetylcholinesterase levels.Both extravascular lung water index (EVLWI) and pulmonary vascular permeability index ( PVPI ) were measured by using PiCCO (pulse indicator continuous cardiac output ). At the termination of the experiment,the animals were sacrificed and the lung wet/dry weight ratio was determined and histopathological changes of lung tissue were also observed under microscope.Results In the dichlorvos group,EVLWI and PVPI were substantially increased from 0.5 h to 6 h after modeling but PaO2/FiO2 decreased from 0-6 h after modeling.In the atropine group,EVLWI and PVPI increased initially,but then they decreased 1 h afterwards and PaO2/FiO2 was also gradually decreased from 0-1 h.In both dichlorvos group and atropine group,the EVLWI was negatively correlated with PO2/FiO2 and positively correlated with PVPI.Compared with the control group,the lung wet/dry weight ratio increased markedly in the dichlorvos group and mildly increased in the atropine group.Meanwhile,the histopathological changes of lung tissue were obvious in the dichlorvos group and mild in the atropine group.Conclusions SADP swine experienced substantial changes in respiratory function. EVLWI was a reliable and valuable indicator for evaluating respiratory function in the early stage of AOPP.

Effectiveness of Human Atrial Natriuretic Peptide Supplementation in Pulmonary Edema Patients Using the Pulse Contour Cardiac Output System

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.