[Eye irritation and chemical eye burns. Review of experimental and clinical studies]

[Ophthalmologic Emergencies in the General Practice]

Ophthalmologic Emergencies in the General Practice Abstract. Even though ophthalmological care is now very well developed even in rural areas, many patients with an eye problem still consult their family doctor or general internist as a first step. The general internist must then decide on an ad-hoc basis if that he or she can manage the problem with a simple treatment available to him or her (tear substitutes, topical antibiotics or a combination of steroids and antibiotics) or if a referral to the nearest ophthalmologist is necessary.

Cardiopulmonary exercise capacity and ventilation effectiveness in patients after clinical cure of acute irritant gas poisoning

The aim of this study is to assess the medium to long-term effect of acute irritant gas poisoning on cardiopulmonary exercise function in patients after clinical cure. Fourteen patients after an average of 18.5 months of clinical cure of acute irritant gas poisoning were recruited, and 14 healthy individuals were selected as control. All subjects were examined by resting pulmonary function testing (RPFT), cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET), and arterial blood gas (ABG) analysis. No statistically significant differences were found between poisoning and control groups for baseline parameters (age, height, and weight) or ABG values (pH, PaO2, PaCO2, and SaO2) (P > 0.05). For most RPFT parameters, including FEV1/FVC, FEV1, FEV1%pred, RV/TLC, DLCO%, and FVC%, no statistically significant differences were observed between poisoning and control groups (P > 0.05). However, MVV% was significantly lower in poisoning group compared with healthy individuals (P < 0.05). Statistically significant differences were observed for some CPET parameters, including peak VO2, peak VO2/kg, peak VE, and lowest VE/VCO2 (P < 0.05), and peak load, V D/V T, and peak PETCO2 (P < 0.01) between the two groups. However, there were no statistically significant differences in peak VO2%pred or peak O2 pulse between poisoning and control groups (P > 0.05). Compared with controls, patients with acute irritant gas poisoning had decreased cardiopulmonary exercise capacity and ventilation effectiveness after clinical cure.