BACKGROUND:Competitive sports training causes structural and conductive system changes manifesting by various electrocardiographic alterations. We undertook this study to assess the prevalence of abnormal ECG in trained Indian athletes and correlate it with the nature of sports training, that is endurance or strength training.METHODS:We evaluated a standard resting, lying 12 lead Electrocardiogram (ECG) in 66 actively training Indian athletes. Standard diagnostic criteria were used to define various morphological ECG abnormalities.RESULTS:33/66 (50%) of the athletes were undertaking endurance training while the other 33 (50%) were involved in a strength-training regimen. Overall 54/66 (81%) sportsmen had significant ECG changes. 68% of these changes were considered as normal training related features, while the remaining 32% were considered abnormal. There were seven common training related ECG changes-Sinus Bradycardia (21%), Sinus Arrhythmia (16%), 1st degree Atrioventricular Heart Block (6%), Type 1 2nd-degree Atrioventicular Heart Block (3%), Incomplete Right bundle branch block (RBBB) (24%), Early Repolarization (42%), Left Ventricular Hypertrophy (LVH) (14%); while three abnormal ECG changes--T-wave inversion (13%), RBBB(4%), Right ventricular hypertrophy (RVH) with strain (29%) were noted. Early repolarization (commonest change), sinus bradycardia, and incomplete RBBB were the commoner features noticed, with a significantly higher presence in the endurance trained athletes.CONCLUSION:A high proportion of athletes undergoing competitive level sports training are likely to have abnormal ECG recordings. Majority of these are benign, and related to the physiological adaptation to the extreme levels of exertion. These changes are commoner during endurance training (running) than strength training (weightlifting).

We examined self-organized InAs/GaAs bilayer quantum dot (BQD) structures grown by solid source molecular beam epitaxy. The two layers had an intermediate GaAs barrier/spacer layer (SL) varying between 75 angstrom and 200 angstrom thicknesses. The photoluminescence (PL) characteristics of the InAs/GaAs BQDs were investigated by varying three growth parameters: (i) growth rate (monolayers per second, ML/s) of active dot layer, (ii) deposition amount (ML) of InAs on active dot layer while keeping that on the seed layer constant, and (iii) GaAs SL thickness (angstrom). Analysis of temperature-dependent PL data indicated an optimum SL thickness of similar to 100 angstrom, for which the low-temperature PL emission peak is at similar to 1.3 mu m with a full width at half-maximum of similar to 24.5 meV. BQD optimization was achieved with a slow (similar to 0.03 ML/s) rather than fast (similar to 0.3 ML/s) growth rate, and with a larger (3.2 ML) rather than smaller (2.5 ML) deposition of InAs on the active dot layer. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS) is a common medical disorder among adults, which is increasingly being recognized in children too. It is a breathing disorder characterized by upper airway obstruction with or without intermittent complete obstruction that disrupts normal breathing during sleep. Anatomical and neuromuscular disorders are mainly responsible for this disorder. This disorder leads to a state of chronic hypoxemia, which has significant cardiac, pulmonary and central nervous system implications. Diagnosis of OSAS is based on thorough history and clinical examination along with appropriate sleep studies including polysomnography. The mainstay of treatment of paediatric OSAS is adenotonsillectomy. Good anaesthetic practice in Paediatric patients with OSAS revolves around good and ideal airway management. Early detection of airway obstruction, intense monitoring to warn of impending airway problems and appropriate and early intervention of airway compromise are good anaesthetic practices. Coexisting medical problems should be adequately addressed and safe analgesic techniques in the perioperative period go towards improving outcomes in patients with paediatric OSAS.

The disastrous entry of amniotic fluid into the maternal circulation leads to dramatic sequelae of clinical events, characteristically referred to as Amniotic fluid embolism (AFE). The underlying mechanism for AFE is still poorly understood. Unfortunately, this situation has very grave maternal and fetal consequences. AFE can occur during labor, caesarean section, dilatation and evacuation or in the immediate postpartum period. The pathophysiology is believed to be immune mediated which affects the respiratory, cardiovascular, neurological and hematological systems. Undetected and untreated it culminates into fulminant pulmonary edema, intractable convulsions, disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), malignant arrhythmias and cardiac arrest. Definite diagnosis can be confirmed by identification of lanugo, fetal hair and fetal squamous cells (squames) in blood aspirated from the right ventricle. Usually the diagnosis is made clinically and by exclusion of other causes. The cornerstone of management is a multidisciplinary approach with supportive treatment of failing organs systems. Despite improved modalities for diagnosing AFE, and better intensive care support facilities, the mortality is still high.

Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) correlates positively with obesity and age, both of which are becoming increasingly prevalent. Obstructive sleep apnoea occurs much more frequently in clinical practice than formerly diagnosed, and that this condition represents complex challenges for difficulty in mask ventilation, laryngoscopic intubation, accelerated arterial desaturation, postoperative monitoring and discharge status. In this review article pathophysiology, diagnosis, and perioperative management of this group of patients have been discussed in detail.

Cerebral palsy (CP) is the result of an injury to the developing brain during the antenatal, perinatal or postnatal period. Clinical manifestation relate to the areas affected. Patients with CP often present for elective surgical proce-dures to correct various deformities. Anaesthetic concerns of anaesthesia are intraoperative hypothermia , and slow emergence. Suxamethonium does not cause hyperkalaemia in these patients, and a rapid sequence induction may be indicated. Temperature should be monitored and an effort made to keep the patient warm. Cerebral abnormalities may lead to slow awakening; the patient should remain intubated until fully awake and airway reflexes have returned. Pulmonary infection can complicate the postoperative course. Postoperative pain management and the prevention of muscle spasms are important and drugs as baclofen and botulinum toxin are discussed. Epidural analgesia is particu-larly valuable when major orthopaedic procedures are performed.

Despite ongoing preventive and rehabilative efforts at the local and international level, substance abuse by adolescents has crossed social, economic, and geographic borders and - throughout the world remains one of the major problems facing society today. The diverse clinical manifestation of drug abuse combined with physiologic changes may significantly have impact on the anaesthetic management. Moreover, it is always difficult to predict the exact anaesthetic implications in chemically dependent patients. Therefore, a complete understanding of the pathophysiology and anaesthetic implications of drug abuse in adolescent is essential to tailor a safe anaesthetic plan for these high-risk groups of patients.