Ancillary Treatments Research Articles

Gastrointestinal Function during Exposure to X-Rays

In view of the rapidity with which radiation-induced gastrointestinal dysfunction becomes apparent, a quantitative investigation of gastrointestinal function during the period of radiation was made. The transit of injected material through the stomach and small intestine during the period of exposure to X-rays was used as a quantitative index of gastrointestinal function. Gastric motility was studied by means of a balloon-kymograph technique because of the predominant role of motility in gastric transit (14). Various ancillary treatments and drugs were used in an attempt to modify the gastric response during radiation exposure in order to elucidate the mechanism of the response. All animals used throughout the study were adult male Sprague-Dawley rats, bred in the USNRDL colony, and maintained on an ad libitum diet of Purina lab chow pellets and water. A therapy X-ray unit operated at 250 kvp, 15 ma, filtered with 0.5 mm Cu + 1.0 mm Al (HVL, 1.5 mm Cu) served as the radiation source. GASTRIC TRANSIT

Studies on the estimation of cardiac output in man, and of abnormalities in cardiac function: Starr, Isaac, Rawson, A. J., Schroeder, H. A., and Joseph, N. R.: Am. J. Physiol. 127: 1, 1939

Cardiac arrest is defined as the termination of cardiac activity associated with loss of consciousness, of spontaneous breathing, and of circulation. Sudden cardiac arrest and sudden cardiac death (SCD) are terms often used interchangeably. Most patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest have shown coronary artery disease or symptoms during the hour before the event. Cardiac arrest is potentially reversible by cardiopulmonary resuscitation, defibrillation, cardioversion, cardiac pacing, or treatments targeted at the underlying disease (e.g., acute coronary occlusion). We restrict SCD hereafter to cardiac arrest due to ventricular fibrillation, including rhythms shockable by an automatic external defibrillator (AED), implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD), or wearable cardioverter-defibrillator (WCD). We summarize the state of the art related to defibrillation in treating SCD, including a brief history of the evolution of defibrillation, technical characteristics of modern AEDs, strategies to improve AED access and increase survival, ancillary treatments, and use of ICDs or WCDs.