Ferrocene plays an important role in chemistry and industry. The structure and bonding discovered in ferrocene has led to new developments in organometallic chemistry, and the discovery of entirely new organometallic compounds. The high stability of this compound is also related to its interesting electrochemical properties that makes it effective electrochemical, reduction and combustion catalysts. Nevertheless, ferrocenyl derivatives are also capable of enhancing the activity of certain biological compounds. Indeed, recently ferrocene and its derivatives have been incorporated into antimalarial agents. Therefore, the evaluation of the possible toxic effects of ferrocene derivative called ferrocenium tetrachloroantimonate (C10H10FeSbCl4 or FC) on acute and subchronic toxicity tests using different dose concentrations according to the body weight for different time interval was carried out in an in vivo model. Results showed that FC was acutely toxic with the LD50 value of 194.70 mg/kg body weight (BW) with signs of toxicity associated with respiratory depression. In the 28-day acute toxicity test, the dose of 100 mg/kg BW resulted in 60 % mortality with signs of gross toxicity, adverse pharmacological effects or abnormal behaviors during the 28 days observation. While in the 90-day subchronic toxicity test at the lower dose of 10 mg/kg BW, however, showed no significant differences (p>0.05) in the mortality rates, and showed no sign of toxicity. These results indicated that FC had different toxicity levels, and mice appeared to tolerate well at the lower dose of 10 mg/kg BW.
Congenital diaphragmatic hernia through the foramen of Bochdalek may present after infancy. A 21/2-year-old Malay girl presented with acute respiratory distress. Chest examination showed reduced chest expansion and decreased breath sounds on the left side. Chest radiograph showed a large "cyst" in the left chest, which was thought to be a lung cyst under tension. Tube thoracostomy resulted in clinical improvement. Results of a barium study showed that the cyst perforated by the thoracostomy tube was the stomach, which had herniated through a Bochdalek diaphragmatic defect. Surgical repair of the diaphragmatic defect and closure of the perforated stomach was performed successfully. Congenital diaphragmatic hernia should be included in the differential diagnosis of respiratory distress in young children. Nasogastric tube placement must be considered as an early diagnostic or therapeutic intervention when the diagnosis is suspected.
Inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) improves oxygenation in term and near-term infants with persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN) and decreases the need for treatment with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). This mode of treatment is currently being introduced in Malaysia. We report our preliminary experience using low dose inhaled nitric oxide (20 parts per million) in three newborn infants (meconium aspiration syndrome, primary PPHN and congenital diaphragmatic hernia) with severe PPHN who fulfilled criteria for ECMO with a mean oxygenation index (OI) of 40. Two of the infants showed rapid and sustained improvement in oxygenation with a reduction in oxygenation index (OI) over 24 hours. The infant with diaphragmatic hernia showed an initial improvement in OI, which was unsustained and subsequently died. All three infants did not show significant elevation of methemoglobin or nitrogen dioxide (NO2). Inhaled nitric oxide is an effective and safe treatment for severe PPHN that can be used in a developing country like Malaysia.
A neonate with severe respiratory distress due to a benign mediastinal teratoma (MT) is reported. Despite early and easy surgical excision of the tumor, the child died due to poor cardiac function. Only ten cases of MT in neonates have been reported in the literature so far. While the tumor has been known to interfere with lung development in utero, postnatal myocardial dysfunction due to poor heart development has not been previously documented.
Monitoring of respiratory mechanics is required for guiding patient-specific mechanical ventilation settings in critical care. Many models of respiratory mechanics perform poorly in the presence of variable patient effort. Typical modelling approaches either attempt to mitigate the effect of the patient effort on the airway pressure waveforms, or attempt to capture the size and shape of the patient effort. This work analyses a range of methods to identify respiratory mechanics in volume controlled ventilation modes when there is patient effort. The models are compared using 4 Datasets, each with a sample of 30 breaths before, and 2-3 minutes after sedation has been administered. The sedation will reduce patient efforts, but the underlying pulmonary mechanical properties are unlikely to change during this short time. Model identified parameters from breathing cycles with patient effort are compared to breathing cycles that do not have patient effort. All models have advantages and disadvantages, so model selection may be specific to the respiratory mechanics application. However, in general, the combined method of iterative interpolative pressure reconstruction, and stacking multiple consecutive breaths together has the best performance over the Dataset. The variability of identified elastance when there is patient effort is the lowest with this method, and there is little systematic offset in identified mechanics when sedation is administered.
BACKGROUND Myasthenic crisis is a condition characterized by the sudden onset of myasthenic weakness involving the respiratory muscles and requires ventilatory support to prevent death. This is a case report of respiratory failure in a 43-year-old man as the first presentation of myasthenia gravis. CASE REPORT A 43-year-old man with underlying hypertension and a lacunar stroke with good muscle-power recovery presented with severe community-acquired pneumonia, complicated with respiratory failure requiring invasive ventilatory support. He responded well to the intravenous antibiotic therapy and after 1 week of treatment, he was hemodynamically stable and his septic parameters improved. However, he persistently failed to maintain adequate spontaneous respiratory effort after the removal of the ventilatory support and had to be reintubated multiple times. There was no other identifiable cause for the worsening respiratory failure. He had no clinical features or muscle weakness suggestive of myasthenia gravis. However, his blood test was positive for serum anti-acetylcholine receptor antibodies and repetitive nerve stimulation tests showed the characteristic decremental response of compound muscle action potential amplitude, in keeping with the diagnosis of myasthenia gravis. He responded well to intravenous immunoglobulin and was discharged with anticholinesterase inhibitors and long-term immunosuppression therapy. CONCLUSIONS This report demonstrates that when patients are admitted to the hospital with acute respiratory failure without any underlying pulmonary disease and with weakness of the respiratory muscles, the diagnosis of myasthenia gravis presenting with a myasthenic crisis should be considered.
The records associated with 83 children from 16 months to 12 years of age who were admitted with snake bite to Kota Bharu General Hospital and University Hospital, Universiti Sains Malaysia over a 5 year period were reviewed. Elapid bites were more common than viper bites while sea-snake bites were not recorded. Symptoms were relatively mild, the common clinical features being pain and local swelling. Antivenom therapy was required in 11 children. Only three of the 11 children developed minor adverse reactions to antivenom. Four of the 83 required ventilatory support for respiratory failure and two children died.
We report a rare case of adult human metapneumovirus (HMPV) in a healthy 32-year-old man. There was dramatic deterioration in his condition developing pneumonia with Type-I respiratory failure and encephalitis. He needed mechanical ventilation in the intensive care setting and was treated with intravenous ribavirin. Post-extubation he remained severely physically and cognitively impaired despite rehabilitation. Treatment of HMPV pneumonia is at present, still without specific antiviral therapy. Managing HMPV-encephalitis remained supportive and challenging. More definite treatment strategies are needed.
In melioidosis caused by Burkholderia pseudomallei, although every organ in the body may be involved, the highest mortality of 73% occurs when the respiratory system is affected. These patients invariably die of acute respiratory failure. Most of them also have underlying predisposing factors like diabetes mellitus.
Tracheal tears are not as uncommon as initially thought. The resultant insufficiency and hypoxia can be life-threatening. The keystone in management is early recognition and diagnosis. Immediate surgical repair is essential.
INTRODUCTION: Paraquat is a quaternary nitrogen herbicide which is highly toxic to human. Death is usually from respiratory failure and may occur within days up to a month after exposure. It is easily available and commonly abused to commit suicide.
METHODOLOGY: This is a retrospective study describing the demographic characteristics, clinical features and outcomes of paraquat poisoning cases admitted to Hospital Taiping from 1st January 2008 to 30th October 2011. Medical records of 79 patients were reviewed.
RESULT: Majority were of the Indian ethnicity (72.2%) followed by Chinese (13.9%) and Malay (10.1%). Majority was male (73.4%) and between 20 to 29 years old (34.2%). The median age of the patients was 30 years old. The mean length of stay was 6.2 days. Most exposures were intentional (69.6%) and presented to the hospital early at less than 6 hours after exposure (72.2%). Patients with positive urine paraquat result had significantly higher mortality rate compared to patients with negative results (47.4% vs 15.2% respectively). We found that neither hemofiltration nor immunosuppressive therapies help to improve survival.
CONCLUSION: The non-survivor characteristics of patients with paraquat poisoning are intentional exposure, delay from exposure to hospital admission, urine paraquat positivity and manifestation of respiratory failure. The demographic characteristics, reasons for exposure and mortality rate are similar to previous reports. Urine paraquat may be used to assess severity of the exposure as well as prognosis. Hemofiltration and immunosuppression therapy do not improve patients' survival and paraquat remains a lethal killer.
This randomised single-blinded study was conducted to evaluate if there was any difference between spinal anaesthesia with hyperbaric bupivacaine 0.5% and intrathecal morphine 0.2mg and combined-spinal epidural using hyperbaric bupivacaine 0.5% with epidural infusion of bupivacaine 0.1% plus fentanyl 2.0μg/ml for 24 hours, postoperative analgesia following hip and knee arthroplasty, in terms of pain score and side effects (nausea, vomiting, pruritus and respiratory depression). Eighty patients ASA I or ASA II, aged between 18 to 75 years who underwent knee and hip arthroplasty of approximately 3-4 hours, duration were recruited. They were randomly allocated to one of two groups by using computer generated randomised numbers. The pain score during the postoperative period was evaluated using Visual Analogue Score (VAS pain score) and the side effects were documented and treated accordingly. Results showed that patients in Group 1 and Group 2 were comparable in terms of age, gender, height, weight and race. There was no statistical difference in VAS pain score between the two groups at all times intervals. However, patients in Group 1 had a higher incidence of nausea and pruritus than patients in Group 2. None of the patients in either group, experienced respiratory depression. Thus, it was concluded that both intrathecal morphine 0.2mg and epidural infusion of bupivacaine 0.1% plus fentanyl 2.0μg/ml were comparable in providing postoperative analgesia up to 24 hours following hip and knee arthroplasty. Nevertheless, the use of spinal morphine led to a higher incidence of side effects namely nausea and pruritus.
This study aimed to compare dexmedetomidine and propofol, in terms of haemodynamic parameters, respiratory rates and offset times, when used for sedation in patients undergoing elective orthopaedic and surgical procedures under regional anaesthesia. This was a prospective, randomised, single-blind study where 88 patients were recruited. Patients were randomised into two groups to receive either dexmedetomidine or propofol infusion. Central neuraxial blockade (spinal, epidural or combined spinal epidural) was performed. After ensuring an adequate block and stable haemodynamic parameters, dexmedetomidine was infused 15 minutes later at 0.4 μg/kg/hr, and propofol, at a target concentration of 2.5 μg/ml. Both drugs were titrated to achieve a bispectral index score of 70 before surgery commenced. Sedation level was monitored using the bispectral index score and assessed by the Observer Assessment of Alertness Scale score. Drug infusion was adjusted to maintain bispectral index scores ranging between 70-80 during surgery. Both groups showed reductions in mean arterial pressure and heart rate from baseline readings throughout the infusion time. However there was no significant reduction in the first 15 minutes from baseline (p > 0.05). Haemodynamic parameters and respiratory rate between both groups were not significantly different (p > 0.05). No patient demonstrated significant respiratory depression or SpO2 ≤ 95%. Offset times were also not significantly different between both groups (p = 0.594). There were no significant differences in haemodynamic parameters, respiratory rates and offset times between dexmedetomidine and propofol used for sedation in patients undergoing elective orthopaedic and surgical procedures under regional anaesthesia.