Ochsner Medical Center

About: Ochsner Medical Center is a healthcare organization based out in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Heart failure. The organization has 980 authors who have published 1159 publications receiving 49961 citations. The organization is also known as: Ochsner Hospital & Ochsner Foundation Hospital.

Management of Sodium Abnormalities in the Neurosurgical Intensive Care Unit

Abstract: Patients with neurological injury commonly acquire changes in their sodium levels, both as a consequence of their disease process and iatrogenically. Hyper- or hyponatremia in the neurosurgical intensive care unit can easily be broken down to neurological causes, medical causes, and iatrogenic causes. Promptly diagnosing conditions in which sodium levels rapidly change are especially important in this patient population because of the effect on cerebral volume. When sodium levels change quickly, large shifts in water occur over the cellular membrane, which can lead to neuronal and cell swelling or shrinkage. Inappropriate or delayed diagnosis and treatment may lead to severe morbidity or even death. The rate of correction of these derangements depends on how rapidly the onset occurred. In this review, we will discuss hypernatremia and hyponatremia and their retrospective etiologies, diagnoses, treatments, and complications.

Identification of Perfusion Abnormalities Using FSO69, a Novel Contrast Agent, in Conscious Dogs.

Abstract: Recent advances in the production of echocardiographic contrast agents has resulted in the ability to delineate areas of hypoperfusion after coronary occlusions and stenoses following their intravenous injection. Most of these studies though have been done in open chest animals. This study was done to determine if we could assess myocardial perfusion following the intravenous administration of FSO69, a suspension of perfluoropropane filled albumin microspheres (3.6 µm average microbubble size, concentration 8 x 10(8)), in spontaneously breathing closed chest dogs. Twenty-seven mongrel dogs were instrumented on day 1. The chest was then closed and the dogs were restudied 3-7 days later, while spontaneously breathing. Homogeneous perfusion was observed in most dogs by all three independent and blinded observers. Perfusion abnormalities were likewise identified in most instances by all blinded reviewers on interventions designed to decrease regional blood flow. A good correlation between perfusion defect size between investigators was observed. In summary, our data suggest that FSO69 can be used to assess regional myocardial perfusion in spontaneously breathing dogs. These results support its use in humans.