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Severe Hypothermia (severe + hypothermia)

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Medical Sciences	100%

Selected Abstracts

Acetaldehyde and the Hypothermic Effects of Ethanol in Mice

ALCOHOLISM, Issue 11 2009
Catherine Closon
Background:, Acetaldehyde, the first metabolite of ethanol, has been suggested to be involved in many behavioral effects of ethanol. However, few studies have investigated the hypothermic effects of acetaldehyde or the contribution of acetaldehyde to ethanol-induced hypothermia. The aim of the present study is to better understand the hypothermic effects of acetaldehyde and the possible contribution of acetaldehyde in ethanol-induced hypothermia, especially under conditions leading to acetaldehyde accumulation. Methods:, Female Swiss mice were injected intraperitoneally with ethanol and acetaldehyde and their rectal temperatures were measured with a digital thermometer at various time points after the injections. Experiment 1 compared the hypothermic effects of various acetaldehyde doses (0 to 300 mg/kg) with a reference dose of ethanol (3 g/kg). Experiment 2 tested the effects of a pretreatment with the aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) inhibitor cyanamide (25 mg/kg) on ethanol- and acetaldehyde-induced hypothermia. In experiments 3 and 4, mice received a combined pretreatment with cyanamide and the alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) inhibitor 4-Methylpyrazole (10 mg/kg) before the injection of ethanol or acetaldehyde. Results:, Acetaldehyde at doses between 100 and 300 mg/kg induced significant hypothermic effects, but of shorter duration than ethanol-induced hypothermia. The inhibition of ALDH enzymes by cyanamide induced a strong potentiation of both ethanol- and acetaldehyde-induced hypothermia. The pretreatment with 4-MP prevented the potentiation of ethanol-induced hypothermia by cyanamide, but slightly increased the potentiation of acetaldehyde-induced hypothermia by cyanamide. Conclusions:, The results of the present study clearly show that acetaldehyde has hypothermic properties in mice at least at relatively high concentrations. Furthermore, the accumulation of acetaldehyde following ALDH inhibition strongly enhanced the hypothermic effects of ethanol. These latter results confirm the hypothermic properties of acetaldehyde and show that acetate, the next step in ethanol metabolism, is not involved in these hypothermic effects. Finally, the experiment with 4-MP indicates that the potentiating effects of cyanamide are mediated by the peripheral accumulation of acetaldehyde, which then reaches the brain to induce a severe hypothermia. [source]

Inadvertent hypothermia and mortality in postoperative intensive care patients: retrospective audit of 5050 patients

ANAESTHESIA, Issue 9 2009
D. Karalapillai
Summary We proposed that many Intensive Care Unit (ICU) patients would be hypothermic in the early postoperative period and that hypothermia would be associated with increased mortality. We retrospectively reviewed patients admitted to ICU after surgery. We recorded the lowest temperature in the first 24 h after surgery using tympanic membrane thermometers. We defined hypothermia as < 36 °C, and severe hypothermia as < 35 °C. We studied 5050 consecutive patients: 35% were hypothermic and 6% were severely hypothermic. In-hospital mortality was 5.6% for normothermic patients, 8.9% for all hypothermic patients (p < 0.001), and 14.7% for severely hypothermic patients (p < 0.001). Hypothermia was associated with in-hospital mortality: OR 1.83 for each degree Celsius (°C) decrease (95% CI: 1.2,2.60, p < 0.001). Given the evidence for improved outcome associated with active patient warming during surgery we suggest conducting prospective studies of active warming of patients admitted to ICU after surgery. [source]

Osborn waves of severe hypothermia

CLINICAL CARDIOLOGY, Issue 5 2002
Thomas Fehr M.D.
No abstract is available for this article. [source]

Unexplained infant crying: an evolutionary perspective,

ACTA PAEDIATRICA, Issue 5 2002
MA Hofer
The absence of adverse health outcomes later in development and the similarity of defining features of "colic" across cultures suggest that an evolutionary perspective may give us some insight into the nature of this puzzling condition. Evidence suggests that the larynx evolved first as a protective valve and later as a means to stabilize the upper thorax momentarily for precision upper arm movements. Recently, we found another physiological role for the larynx in regulating respiratory function to promote the recovery of young rats from severe hypothermia. In the process, bursts of calling were emitted by unconscious pups, which were nevertheless effective in eliciting maternal search and retrieval. These unexpected findings reveal how infant calling may have evolved as a communicative signal derived from more primitive physiological functions of the larynx. Repetitive calling in the normal young rat when isolated from its littermates and mother is regulated by multiple sensory cues present in the infant's social interactions, and in the paper it is described how this sensory input projects to central neuromodulatory systems known to be active in the control of anxiety behaviors in adult rats and humans. Conclusion: This broad range of functions for infant calling in other mammals suggests several new ways to approach the further study and treatment of unexplained crying in human infants. [source]