[Metabolic and water-electrolyte changes as postoperative complications in aneurysms of the anterior communicating artery]. / Alterazioni metaboliche ed idroelettrolitiche quali complicazioni post-operatorie negli aneurismi dell'arteria comunicante anteriore.

A study was performed on hydroelectrolytic changes in neurosurgical patients operated for clipping anterior communicating artery aneurysm. The patients were observed during a seven day period in ICU, between the preoperative day and the sixth post-operative day. No statistically significant changes were observed, except for hyponatriemia on the day of surgery. The etiology of this phenomenon is not clear: it could be a change of ADH or "cerebral salt wasting syndrome". A wider number of patients and repeated haematological tests are necessary.

[Anesthesiologic considerations in 83 cases of surgery of the posterior cranial fossa in children]. / Considerazioni anestesiologiche su 83 casi di chirurgia della fossa cranica posteriore operati in età pediatrica.

Our study includes a group of 83 cases operated for pathologies of posterior fossa in the years from 1967 to 1985. The patients were examined according to age, site, pathology and size of the lesions, duration of the operation, amount of removal and use of new technologies. The evaluation of all these data has given us the possibility to study the effects of drugs and anesthesiological techniques used in the different years. We have mainly considered the influence of postoperative complications on the quality of the postoperative outcome. The use of new technologies and of the anesthetic drugs recently introduced, even if it has widened the operative indications to patients with serious pathologies and in critical general conditions, has shown a considerable reduction of intraoperative and postoperative complications of the midline lesions, shortening the postoperative hospitalization and improving the outcome.

Changes of lymphocyte beta-adrenergic receptors after surgical stress.

In this study the authors' purpose was to observe the effects of surgical stress on the number of lymphocyte beta-adrenergic receptors in hypertensive and normotensive subjects. It was noticed that after surgery a significant reduction occurred in the number of binding sites of lymphocytes of both hypertensive and normotensive subjects. The time course of recovery to the pre-operative values of binding sites varied between the two groups, being slower in normotensive than in hypertensive patients. This might suggest a different pattern of regulation of the beta-adrenergic receptor between hypertensive and normotensive subjects.

[Althesin in anesthesia for neuroradiologic arteriographic studies]. / L'althesin nella anestesia delle indagini arteriografiche neuroradiologiche.

Following mention of problems of cerebral haemodynamics and the action of various anaesthetics on endocranial pressure, a personal anaesthesiological technique based on the use of althesin in drip form is reported and its advantages listed.