[Acute respiratory distress syndrome in pediatric cardiosurgery].

The prognosis in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is poor; its mortality is generally 40-60%. The mortality in patients with ARDS is more commonly associated with the sequels of sepsis and multiple organ dysfunction than with respiratory failure although the latest papers on protective ventilation suggest that death in these patients directly results from lung lesion in a number of cases. There have been encouraging data on the reduced mortality rates due to acute lung lesion/ARDS in the past decade. The development and introduction of new technologies of respiratory support, the emergence of new effective treatments for sepsis, and the improvement of general maintenance therapy in patients with ARDS may be a possible explanation for such changes for the best.

[Use of the exogenous surfactant curosurf in combined therapy for acute respiratory failure in children after cardiosurgical interventions].

This study was undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of use of an exogenous surfactant in combined therapy for acute respiratory failure in children after cardiac surgery. In 2003 to 2004, the A. N. Bakulev Research Center of Cardiovascular Surgery, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, used Curosurf in 58 infants undergone cardiac surgery. The infants' age ranged from 1 day to 27 months (4.6 +/- 0.75 months); the body weight was 1.1 to 14.8 kg (4.9 +/- 0.69 kg). According to the indications for replacement therapy with Curosurf, all the patients were divided into 4 groups: 1) 19 patients with acute pulmonary lesion syndrome; 2) 12 patients with bilateral pneumonia; 3) 22 infants with recurrent atelectases, and 4) 5 patients with paresis of the cupula of the diaphragm. Group 1 patients receiving the exogenous surfactant showed a significant increase in oxygenation and Cdyn, which allowed a significant reduction in the level of respiratory support. Group 2 patients were found to have similar changes, less pronounced as they were, in gas exchange and the mechanics of respiration. In most patients with recurrent atelectases, a steady-state smoothing-out of the latter could be achieved. In Group 4 patients, the exogenous surfactant did not affect the duration of artificial ventilation. Complications due to the administration of the exogenous surfactant (pneumothorax, short-term blood desaturation) were encountered rarely and readily arrested. As a whole, Curosurf is an effective component of combined intensive therapy for acute respiratory failure in pediatric cardiosurgery.

[Intensive therapy for multiple organ dysfunction in neonatal infants after cardiosurgical interventions].

This study was undertaken to evaluate the efficiency of complex intensive therapy for multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) after cardiosurgical interventions at the resuscitative and intensive care unit of the A. N. Bakulev Research Center of Cardiovascular Surgery, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences. In 2003-2004, MODS developed in 70 (37%) of the neonatal infants operated on the heart and vessels. The babies' age ranged from 6 hours of life to 1 month (8.3 +/- 2.1 days of life, their body weight was from 1.7 to 4.1 kg (3.0 +/- 0.49 kg). All the patients were found to have significant renal and respiratory failures. There were more than 4 (4.1 +/- 0.5) failing vital viscera. The use of phosphodiesterase (III) inhibitors in therapy for acute left ventricular insufficiency significantly improved the performance of the left heart whereas nitric oxide inhalation significantly lowered pulmonary pressure in babies with acute right ventricular insufficiency and improved oxygenation in patients with MODS. The efficiency of nitric oxide inhalation in MODS significantly increased when it was used in combination with endotracheal administration of a surfactant and high-frequency oscillatory ventilation. Peritoneal dialysis effectively replaced renal function when acute renal failure (ARF) developed. Nevertheless, the development of ARF in the pattern of MODS is a marker of high mortality (89% in ARF versus 46% in MODS without ARF).