Fulminant hepatic failure after repeated exposure to isoflurane.

Inhalational agents are used routinely for maintenance of anaesthesia. Post anaesthesia hepatic failure has been documented following exposure to halothane. However, there are very few reports of such complications following isoflurane anaesthesia. A 6-year-old child developed fulminant hepatic failure 2 days following craniotomy under general anaesthesia. There was no evidence of viral, autoimmune, or metabolic causes of hepatitis. No other medications known to cause hepatitis, except low dose paracetamol, were administered. The clinical and histological picture of our case is similar to that of halothane hepatitis, which has a significant mortality rate. We report this as a possible fulminant hepatic failure resulting from exposure to isoflurane anaesthesia.

Processing of grain-size functionally gradient bioceramics for implant applications.

This paper reports work on the processing of functionally gradient alumina bioceramics with a continuously decreasing grain size across the thickness, with the view of ultimately utilizing high-quality nano/ultrafine powders only at the surface of an implant to provide superior wear and mechanical properties. A model of disc geometry is used to examine the feasibility of producing this brand of materials. Wet processing/ball milling and sequential slip casting procedures were used to de-agglomerate alumina powders and deposit green layers of varying particle sizes from 50 to 250 nm. Both pressure-less sintering and hot pressing were evaluated as high temperature sintering/consolidation processes. The results indicate that pressure-less sintering may not be suitable. Hot pressing, however, achieved very promising results producing near fully dense product with a grain size that gradually changes across its thickness.

Neurochemical effects of danitracen (WA-355): mechanism of action.

Danitracen lowered serotonin levels in the cerebrum, cerebellum, medulla and the whole brain. The drug did not appear to affect the concentration of 5-HIAA except in the cerebellum where there was a considerable depletion. Danitracen pretreatment led to a lowering in the 5-HIAA levels in the whole brain and decreased NE levels in apomorphine and amphetamine treated rats. The findings indicate that the mechanism of action of danitracen also involves noradrenergic neurons along with a possible increase in the metabolism.

Effect of citalopram (Lu 10-171) on tranylcypromine and tryptophan-induced wet-dog shakes in rats.

It has been found that citalopram (Lu 10-171) has profound effects on serotonin (5-HT) metabolism by increasing the 5-HT levels in the cerebellum, medulla, and the whole brain with a corresponding decrease of the 5-HIAA levels in all parts of the brain except the brain stem. On the other hand, the drug does not appear to have any influence on the wet-dog shakes response induced by the combination of a monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI) and L-tryptophan. It is suggested that by increasing the neuronal levels of 5-HT, citalopram decreases the turnover of 5-HT and firing rate of serotonin neurons. It has also been observed that citalopram could be an agonist of a certain type of 5-HT receptor which does not respond to the behavioral screening model proposed by Bedard and Pycock (1977).