Is there a place for preconditioning during cardiac operations in humans?
Cardiopulmonary bypass triggers an activation of the kinase cascade that is mechanistically linked to opening of potassium channels. The direct opening of these channels by the anesthetic sevoflurane does not increase kinase activation further, nor does it improve markers of cell necrosis, thus suggesting that pharmacologically targeting potassium channels may overlap the preconditioning-like effects of CPB alone.
We found that the process of mapping an academically rigorous epidemiology training program (the PMR) to the AEC was feasible and useful. It permitted us to identify training strengths and gaps in our program and consider modifications that will strengthen the level of competency of our physician graduates.