Live Blog: ANZCP Down Under [3]

Media Journalism by…

Martin Gill: Perfusionist

(Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Sydney Australia)

Editor’s Note:  This opportunity is provided by the efforts of, Mr. Martin Gill, perfusionist, who is attending this meeting in Sydney.

The intention here @ CircuitSurfers is to offer up a library of these types of objective POV’s (Points of View) to highlight conferences as well as “personalize” what a potential attendee can expect if deciding to participate.

ANZP Conference:  Day 2

Session 1

Well the evening meal at night on Fort Denison in Sydney Harbor was great. Good food, good drink, guided tours of the island and a great presentation from Operation Open Heart- a charitable organization that carries out heart surgery in developing countries throughout the world.

Now back to business. Session 1 of day 2.

Myocardial protection.

This session got underway with Prof Preusse presenting research and development of custodial , HTK. The prof was actually involved in the development of this product and has devoted much of his professional life to myocardial protection. This product is viewed as a ‘intracellular’ solution based upon its composition. It is delivered as crystalloid only and cold so has very low viscosity.

The solution is usually delivered as a single dose plead and only regimen with sustained ventricular activity. It seems like a very interesting plegia that can apparently be given to all ages and all hearts.

Perfusionists in the audience that have experience with this product all found a period of initial trepidation and then soon become advocates of its use. Seems like it might be worth a look……

Martin.

Sent from my iPad

Session 2

Session 2 of day 2 sees the commencement of the first full free paper session. This began with a very interesting presentation of Melbourne Kids veno venous experience and a lead into the use of the Avalon cannuale.

This cannulae is getting increased acceptance in Australia and is proving  to be a very valuable asset.

Other presented studies looked at the design of a bridge clamp within an ECMO circuit and the positive effect this new clamp had on blood rheology.

We also heard about circuits designed for volume exchange in sickle cell patients, venous saturation monitoring and temperature/ reagent mixing effect on ACT plus results.

It certainly appears that extra corporeal support outside of the OR is very much an area of interest to perfusion researchers.

Please forgive me if I am getting a bit brief in my postings. This is not due to the effects of last night, but an increase in my nervous state due to a looming presentation by me after lunch.

Cheers
Martin.

The Last Session…  Day 2, session 3.

This after lunch session commenced with the 2nd full free paper session. Whilst I am sure that the first presentation was very good, I have a rather sever inability to listen to this due to my presentation being next up.

I hope my presentation went down well- my research looked at insensible water loss from an ECMO oxygenator being an unexpected cause of neonatal hypernatraemia.

The rest of the session consisted of a very good presentation from Richard Newland looking at intraoperative and postoperative temperature being independent risk factors for post op renal failure.

Another particularly good presentation related the benefit of simulation as a routine practice. In Australia we are in a fortunate position in that our society have purchased an Orphous simulator that can be sent to any perfusion unit with a desire to utilize this product. I believe there is no doubt about the value of simulation to contemporary perfusion practice. Irrespective of the fidelity one is able to create practice still makes perfect.

The Orpheus Simulator.

The final session of both the day and the conference saw the return of the key note speaker, Gavin Murphy. This time his focus was acute kidney injury post CPB. After an extensive overview of the pathogenesis of this condition we were informed that there is currently no effective treatment for this worryingly common occurrence.

Very surprisingly some yet unpublished work of Gavins is pointing towards the use of Sildenefil in reducing AKI post CPB. I sincerely hope this is the case, as the impact of this study could be tremendous.

The day finished with an in-depth look at the fundamentals of the NIRS. As I am sure many are aware, this device has the potential to be a great asset to the perfusionist, if it is not already. The speaker was confident that over the next 5-10 years these devices will only get better and better.

The conference was then brought to a close.
=

Well, gotta go and get the tux on- formal dinner tonight.

=
Cheers
Martin.

Sent from my iPhone

What a great end to a great conference.

The black tie dinner was a hoot. After a enjoyable and informative 3 days the meeting ended with some good music, plenty of dancing, a few speeches- and some drinking.

Well that’s all from me- thanks for listening and I hope some of you can makes it to next years meeting which is being held in an extraordinary location –

Uluru (Ayres Rock).

Book the dates now 1-3 November 2012.

see you there……

Cheers
Martin.

Sent from my iPhone

Editors Note:

Amazing Review…   Cheers !

Click to View Entire ANZCP Series…

To Be Continued …  NEXT YEAR