Ince C.: Cardiovascular aspects of Surgery and Critical Illness

Our research group has three main lines of research; 1)Clinical microcirculation research in perioperative phase 2)The red blood cell in critical illnes and surgery, 3)Experimental investigations into microcirculatory and mitochondrial dysfunction in sepsis, shock and resuscitation. Our research is translational in nature where we develop concepts and techniques fron bench-to-bedside. In theme 1 we identified 5 different classes of microcirculatory alterations in distributive shock. We identified microcirculatory recruitment maneuvers in the treatment of sepsis, and developed microcirculation research in cardiac and maxillofacial surgery. In theme 2 we investigated how storage affects the quality of blood transfusions. We found that fluid resuscitation causes enhancement in renal oxygen consumption and redistribution of oxygen transport. This line of research resulted in a grant awarded by the Landsteiner Foundation for Blood Transfusion Research. In theme 3 we developed a two-wave length technique for measuring the redistribution of tissue oxygenation in organs. Our year was rounded off by our publication in Nature Methods where we identified an endogenous mitochondrial
molecule, protoporyphrin IX, with which, using quenching of delayed fluorescence, mitochondrial pO2 can be measured quantitatively in vivo. This new technique is expected to provide important new insights into the nature of mitochondrial dysfunction in critical illness.

Theme: Cardiovascular Diseases