Influence of burn severity on endothelial glycocalyx shedding following thermal trauma: A prospective observational study.

OBJECTIVE: Severe burns cause hypermetabolic and inflammatory responses are treated with significant volume resuscitation. This study aimed to evaluate correlations between glycocalyx metabolites and the burn size as well as certain clinical parameters such as administered fluid volumes. STUDY DESIGN: Severely burned patients with a total body surface area (TBSA) burned smaller and larger than 20% were included. Clinical parameters including length of stay, mortality, fluid administration and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score as well as syndecan and heparansulfate, as laboratory parameters for endothelial damage, were obtained. RESULTS: A total of 39 patients (32 males, 7 females) with a mean age at burn of 45 ± 21 years were included. Syndecan levels decreased and heparansulfate levels increased over time. In both heparansulfate and syndecan, there was no significant difference between burns smaller and larger than 20% TBSA at any time point. Syndecan levels at 24 h after burn correlated significantly with IL-10 levels at admission (R = 0.58 and p < 0.05). There were significant linear correlations of %TBSA and cumulative administration of fluids after 24 h on syndecan levels after 48 h. Correlations between clinical parameters and syndecan or heparansulfate levels over time were not found. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that even though there are moderate correlations with burn size and administered fluid volume, levels of syndecan and heparansulfate are not predictive for clinical outcomes of burned patients in our cohort. Further studies with higher numbers evaluating the effect of large burns on glycocalyx shedding over a longer period of time are needed. Showing significant glycocalyx shedding in large burn including potentially correlations with clinical outcomes may yield new therapeutic targets.

Malignant extrarenal rhabdoid tumour (MERT) with liver metastases as a rare cause of an esophageal tumor in a 57 years old patient.

Tumors with a rhabdoid phenotype are aggressive neoplasms with a dismal prognosis. Malignant extrarenal rhabdoid tumor (MERT) of the esophagus is an extremely rare disease with so far only 6 cases reported. We report on a 57-year-old male patient with rhabdoid tumor situated in the esophagus with metastases to the liver and local lymph nodes. Assuming an undifferentiated esophageal adenocarcinoma a palliative chemotherapy with 5-FU/folinic acid, oxaliplatin, and docetaxel (FLOT) was initiated which was changed towards a combination of doxorubicin and ifosphamide as immunohistochemistry of the primary and the liver metastases revealed a rhabdoid tumor. This treatment with doxorubicin and ifosphamide resulted in a short clinical and radiological response which lasted only for 2 months. Due to the bad general condition at the time of progression no further chemotherapy was initiated. The patient died due to tumor progression 6 months after initial diagnosis which is consistent with other reports on malignant extrarenal rhabdoid tumors (median survival of metastatic disease less than 6 months). Thus, metastatic MERT represents a disease with a poor prognosis and no established standard therapy.

Enoximone, a post-operative inodilator in patients following mitral valve operation: a prospective and controlled study.

Inotropic support is often required for post-operative management of patients following mitral valve operation. The use of positive inotropes is limited by tolerance development and increase in myocardial oxygen demand. We have compared i.v. enoximone (E) (group E, n = 13), a recently developed phosphodiesterase (PDE) inhibitor, to the conventional i.v. therapeutics dopamine (D) and glyceroltrinitrate (G) in patients following mitral valve operation. The two groups were comparable in terms of physical and pre-operative haemodynamic data. Haemodynamic measurements including cardiac index (CI) determinations were recorded for the first 18 h post surgery in both groups. Group E received a bolus of 1 mg.kg-1 E followed by 4-20 micrograms.kg-1.min-1 (mean = 5 +/- 2 micrograms.kg-1.min-1) for 14 h according to therapeutic requirements, while group D received dopamine (4-10 micrograms.kg-1.min-1, mean = 3.8 +/- 1.9 micrograms.kg-1.min-1) and glyceroltrinitrate (0.5-5 micrograms.kg-1.min-1; mean = 4 +/- 2 micrograms.kg-1.min-1). Adrenaline was added if the MAP was below 60 mmHg or the CI was below 2.5 in both groups (range 50-500 ng.kg-1.min-1; mean E = 0.7 +/- 2 ng.kg-1.min-1; mean D = 2 +/- 2.8 ng.kg-1.min-1). Bolus injection of E resulted in a rise in CI from 2.6 to 3.21.min-1.m-2 (P less than 0.05) within 30 min, followed by a further rise to a maximum of 3.51.min-1.m-2 6 h post bolus. Termination of the E drip resulted in a drop of CI to baseline values (P less than 0.05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Comparison of enoximone and piroximone in patients after mitral valve operation: a prospective and controlled clinical study.

Phosphodiesterase III (PDEII) inhibitors as so-called inodilators have previously proven a valuable alternative to positive inotropes in patients with cardiac insufficiency. In this study we compared patients receiving piroximone (P, n = 14, 0.5-mg/kg bolus in 30 min and then 3-6 micrograms/kg/min) with enoximone patients (E, n = 13, 1-mg/kg bolus and then 4-20 micrograms/kg/min) and with a third group (D, n = 14) receiving a combination of dopamine (4-10 micrograms/kg/min) and glyceroltrinitrate (0.5-5 micrograms/kg/min) for hemodynamic support. All three groups were comparable in terms of age, body surface area, and preoperative cardiac function [cardiac index (CI) less than or equal to 2.5 L/min/m2, LAP greater than 15 mm Hg]. Hemodynamic measurements (10) and Holter monitoring were performed until 18 h post MVR. In all groups, epinephrine was used for additional inotropic therapy if mean arterial pressure (MAP) was less than 60 mm Hg and/or CI was less than 2.5 L/min/m2. There was no early or late postoperative mortality in either group. Continuous support with epinephrine was necessary in 8 patients in group D, whereas initially 8 patients in group E and 6 patients in group P required epinephrine support. After PDE III inhibitor infusion, 2 patients in group E and 2 patients in group P remained epinephrine dependent (p less than 0.05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)