P Taurà

Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

Are you P Taurà?

Claim your profile

Publications (9)30.96 Total impact

  • Article: Liver transplantation in high-risk patients: hepatopulmonary syndrome and portopulmonary hypertension.
    [show abstract] [hide abstract]
    ABSTRACT: Two pulmonary vascular disorders, considered mutually exclusive, may be present in candidates for orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). On the one hand, hepatopulmonary syndrome (HPS), with a prevalence about 20% in end-stage liver disease, is characterized by pulmonary vascular dilatation and abnormal gas exchange. On the other hand, portopulmonary hypertension (POPH), a process defined by pulmonary hypertension associated with portal hypertension, is less common than HPS (4%). These entities have very distinct clinical implications; whereas HPS is clinically characterized by respiratory symptoms that evolve to severe hypoxemia, patients with POPH are commonly asymptomatic, frequently diagnosed in the setting of OLT, and the symptoms appear when there is hemodynamic compromise. The pathogenesis of both entities is a putative mechanism, the imbalance of vasoactive substances in pulmonary vessels. The role of OLT to reverse these vascular disorders is controversial, although complete resolution of HPS and, less frequently, POPH following OLT has been reported. The recognition that the presence of both HPS and POPH is an important cause of morbidity and mortality among recipients of OLT has resulted in a change in the policy to select OLT candidates. Accurate identification of patients with pulmonary vascular disorders associated with liver disease should be the first step in the management of OLT candidates. Because the determinants of the prognosis of OLT in the setting of these pulmonary vascular changes have not been well established, an accurate cardiopulmonary evaluation with careful assessment of pulmonary gas exchange (in HPS) and right ventricular function (in POPH) of potential OLT recipients is mandatory before the procedure.
    Transplantation Proceedings 12/2005; 37(9):3861-4. · 1.00 Impact Factor
  • Article: The effects of vasoactive drugs on hepatic blood flow changes induced by CO2 laparoscopy: an animal study.
    [show abstract] [hide abstract]
    ABSTRACT: Laparoscopic surgery is associated with systemic and splanchnic hemodynamic alterations. Recent data suggest that small-dose dobutamine may attenuate the reduction in splanchnic blood flow associated with increments in intraabdominal pressure. We conducted this study to analyze the effects of dopamine and dobutamine on the hepatic circulation in this setting. Twenty-one pigs were anesthetized and mechanically ventilated. A flow-directed pulmonary artery and carotid artery catheters were inserted. Perivascular flow probes were placed around the main hepatic artery and the portal vein. CO2 was insufflated into the peritoneal cavity to reach an intraabdominal pressure of 15 mm Hg. After 60 min, animals received dopamine (5 microg x kg(-1) x min(-1); n = 8), dobutamine (5 microg x kg(-1) x min(-1); n = 8), or saline (n = 5) for 30 min. Pneumoperitoneum induced significant increases in heart rate, mean arterial pressure, and systemic vascular resistance, with decreases in cardiac output and hepatic artery and portal vein blood flows. Dobutamine infusion, in contrast to dopamine, corrected, at least in part, cardiac output, systemic vascular resistance, and hepatic artery blood flow alterations, but neither drug restored total hepatic blood flow. IMPLICATIONS: Hepatic blood flow decreases during laparoscopic surgery. A small-dose infusion of neither dobutamine nor dopamine corrects the total hepatic blood flow impairment, but the former is able to restore the hepatic arterial blood supply in an animal model mimicking this condition.
    Anesthesia & Analgesia 12/2001; 93(5):1121-6. · 3.29 Impact Factor
  • Article: Dobutamine restores intestinal mucosal blood flow in a porcine model of intra-abdominal hyperpressure.
    [show abstract] [hide abstract]
    ABSTRACT: To assess the effects of dopamine and dobutamine administration on the systemic and mesenteric (macro- and microvascular) circulatory disturbances induced by intra-abdominal hyperpressure. Prospective, randomized study. Animal research laboratory in a university hospital. Twenty-five pigs of either gender, weighing 30-35 kg. Animals were anesthetized, and their lungs were mechanically ventilated. Pulmonary artery flotation and carotid artery catheters were inserted for hemodynamic monitoring and blood sampling. A perivascular flow probe was placed around the superior mesenteric artery, and a laser Doppler probe was positioned in the lumen of the ileum to measure arterial and intestinal mucosal blood flows, respectively. CO2 was insufflated into the peritoneal cavity to reach an intra-abdominal pressure of 15 mm Hg, and 60 mins later, animals received dopamine (5 microg/kg/min; n = 10), dobutamine (5 microg/kg/min; n = 10), or saline (n = 5) for 30 mins. Peritoneal CO2 insufflation induced significant increases in heart rate, arterial pressure, and systemic vascular resistance with concomitant decreases in cardiac output and superior mesenteric arterial and intestinal mucosal blood flows. Although dobutamine infusion reversed the decrease in cardiac output, it failed to restore superior mesenteric artery blood flow; however, intestinal mucosal blood flow returned to baseline levels. Dopamine also attenuated the decrease in cardiac output, but it had no beneficial effect on splanchnic hemodynamic variables. Low-dose infusion of dobutamine, but not dopamine, corrects the intestinal mucosal perfusion impairment induced by moderate increases in intra-abdominal pressure.
    Critical Care Medicine 03/2000; 28(2):467-72. · 6.33 Impact Factor
  • Article: Severe portopulmonary hypertension after liver transplantation in a patient with preexisting hepatopulmonary syndrome.
    [show abstract] [hide abstract]
    ABSTRACT: Portopulmonary hypertension and hepatopulmonary syndrome have been considered mutually exclusive pulmonary vascular disorders in liver disease states. This current report describes a middle-aged patient, a candidate for liver transplantation, diagnosed with hepatopulmonary syndrome on the basis of clinical, echocardiographic and gas exchange criteria. Unusually high pulmonary pressures were observed at liver transplantation, performed 6 months after the initial diagnosis of hepatopulmonary syndrome. Three months later, the patient developed severe pulmonary hypertension and died of right ventricular failure during a second attempted liver transplantation. Postmortem histologic findings in the lung confirmed the presence of plexogenic pulmonary arteriopathy. This case illustrates the potential occurrence of hepatopulmonary syndrome and portopulmonary hypertension in the same patient, suggesting that the presence of hepatopulmonary syndrome may not preclude the development of portopulmonary hypertension.
    Journal of Hepatology 01/2000; 31(6):1075-9. · 9.26 Impact Factor
  • Article: Usefulness of Celsior in graft preservation of livers obtained from non heart beating donors in experimental (pigs) liver transplantation: comparative study with University of Wisconsin solution.
    Transplantation Proceedings 10/1999; 31(6):2433-4. · 1.00 Impact Factor
  • Article: Blood flow and oxygen extraction during normothermic recirculation and total body cooling predict viability of liver from non-heart-beating pig donors.
    Transplantation Proceedings 01/1998; 29(8):3469-70. · 1.00 Impact Factor
  • Article: Epidural somatostatin as an analgesic in upper abdominal surgery: a double-blind study.
    [show abstract] [hide abstract]
    ABSTRACT: Somatostatin 1-14, a natural occurring neuropeptide (Somiaton), has been reported to have analgesic effects in humans in different painful conditions. The aim of the present study was to investigate if epidural somatostatin produced clinical analgesia to postoperative pain after upper abdominal surgery. In a randomized double-blind controlled study, 40 patients received either 125 micrograms of epidural somatostatin infusions every hour (using a continuous infusion pump: CADD-PCA model 5200 PCX, Pharmacia) or placebo: mannitol (somatostatin inactif ingredient) 2.5 mg during the first 3 postoperative days (plus additional pulses of either substance, 250 micrograms or 5 mg, respectively, according to the level of analgesia needed by the patient). Additional subcutaneous analgesic treatment with 1 mg/kg pethidine chlorhydrate was administered at the patient's request. The degree of pain was quantified with visual analogue scale at baseline, 1 h after the operation and at every 4 h for the next 3 days. Arterial blood gases and spirometry values were determined at different intervals throughout the study period. Somatostatin was significantly better than placebo for pain relief (P < 0.01) and respiratory function preservation (P < 0.05). The total consumption (and ranges) of somatostatin at 24, 48 and 72 h were: 5.2 +/- 1.4 mg (4.0-6.25 mg), 4.2 +/- 0.8 mg (2.2-5.0 mg) and 3.7 +/- 0.4 mg (2.2-4.7 mg) respectively. During the whole study the need for complementary analgesia (pethidine chlorhydrate) was significantly higher in the placebo group: 5.4 +/- 3.5 vs. 2.7 +/- 1.9 (mean +/- SD) P < 0.01, dose/72 h. Side effects were irrelevant and scarce in both groups. The sustained pain relief combined with the respiratory function preservation in the somatostatin group suggests an important role of this drug in postoperative analgesia.
    Pain 11/1994; 59(1):135-40. · 5.78 Impact Factor
  • Article: Venovenous bypass and liver transplantation.
    Anesthesia & Analgesia 10/1993; 77(3):642. · 3.29 Impact Factor
  • Article: [Continuous epidural perfusion with meperidine on demand for the treatment of postoperative pain].
    [show abstract] [hide abstract]
    ABSTRACT: To determine whether epidural administration of meperidine through a system affording patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) is appropriate for postoperative pain. A prospective double-blind study of 30 patients undergoing high abdominal surgery randomly into two groups. After surgery with the same type of general anesthesia for both groups, group A received epidural meperidine through a PCA pump (initial boluses of 50 mg + infusion of 10 mg/h with additional doses of 25 mg upon patient demand and closure time of 90 min). Control group B received 0.9% saline serum through an epidural PCA system with identical perfusion characteristics. All patients had access to additional analgesia with subcutaneous meperidine (1 mg/kg weight). There was a wide interindividual variation in meperidine consumption in group A, with a mean total dose of 301.4 +/- 73 mg in 24 hours and no patient requiring additional subcutaneous meperidine. Subcutaneous meperidine required in group B reached 273 +/- 65.8 mg in 24 hours, with no significant differences between groups A and B for total dose given. No side effects inherent to the technique were found. Sufficient control of pain was achieved for all patients receiving epidural meperidine. Epidurally administered PCA with meperidine affords better pain relief with greater patient satisfaction than the same amount of drug given subcutaneously in successive doses upon patient request.
    Revista espanola de anestesiologia y reanimacion 41(2):89-92.