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To assess the value of endoscopic guidance in bedside percutaneous dilational tracheostomy. The medical critical care unit of a large community hospital. 71 consecutive adult patients who required prolonged mechanical ventilation. 72 elective percutaneous dilational tracheostomies using the Ciaglia technique were performed under view of a flexible fiberoptic bronchoscope. Patients were examined during tracheostomy and on days 2 and 7 after the procedure, at discharge and after half a year if they were still alive. A correct median puncture was observed by endoscopic control in 59 interventions. an initial paramedian puncture was detected in 13/72 (18%) procedures and was corrected by renewed insertion in all cases. No severe complications related to percutaneous dilational tracheostomy were noticed. Minor complications occurred in 4/71 (5.6%) patients including minor bleeding in 2, inflammatory infiltration in 1 and one superficial lesion of the posterior tracheal mucosa. Long-term follow-up revealed stomal granulation in 3 patients including one at the tracheal site. At the end of the observation period the tracheostomy still was in use in 14/71 (20%) patients and 12/71 (17%) patients were decannulated. Due to their severe underlying diseases 45/71 (63%) patients had died. To facilitate weaning from the tracheostomy a minitracheostomy tube was used in 3 patients. Percutaneous dilational tracheostomy is a simple bedside procedure associated with a low complication rate. We recommend the use of endoscopic guidance to increase the safety of tracheal puncture and dilation procedure.

Vena caval filters in the prevention of pulmonary embolism All currently available caval filters can be implanted percutaneously in local anaesthesia. In the USA the FDA has approved the stainless steel Greenfield filter, the Titanium Greenfield filter, the Bird's Nest filter, the LGM or VenaTech filter and the Simon Nitinol filter. Some other caval filters are commercially available in Europe, but there exist only few clinical trials about them. The Greenfield filter is implanted since the early seventies and the greatest amount of data has been published about it. Standard indications for filter placement are recurrent pulmonary embolism despite adequate anticoagulation, in patients after pulmonary embolectomy, when there is a contraindication to anticoagulation (e.g. fresh surgical wound, active gastrointestinal bleeding, recent haemorrhagic stroke, major trauma,...) and when serious complications occur after thrombolysis or anticoagulation. In patients who suffer from severe cardiopulmonary disease both a caval filter and anticoagulation may be required. Follow-up investigations include plain abdominal radiography and duplex ultrasound, in special cases computed tomography, cavography, magnetic resonance imaging in newer filter types, and intravascular ultrasound. Complications include recurrent pulmonary embolism, caval obstruction, migration, fracture and perforation of filter struts. As clinically relevant complications are rare, in diligently selected cases the patient will benefit from implantation of a caval filter.

Follow-up of patients with inferior vena cava filters was performed every 3 months with clinical controls, plain radiographs and duplex sonography. Whereas the clinical results were excellent (no recurrence of pulmonary embolism), radiological controls showed broken anchoring legs in 14 cases and a broken filter basket in one patient. In two cases, the broken anchoring prongs had perforated the inferior vena cava wall. All patients with broken filters were clinically asymptomatic. CT showed no morphological changes in these cases. As experience proves, strict follow-up of caval filters for early detection of complications is mandatory even with well-established filter types.

Three male patients with purulent pericarditis, in whom complete drainage could not be obtained by pericardiocentesis, were treated with transcatheter intrapericardial urokinase to prevent the development of chronic constrictive pericarditis. As shown by echocardiography, the intrapericardial fibrin layers disappeared in two cases and were reduced by more than half in the third. Effects on systemic coagulation indices and complications related to intrapericardial lysis were not observed.