VEÀ PHAÀN NOÙI CHUYEÄN CUÛA DU TÖÛ LEÂ TAI HOÄI NGHIEÂN CÖÙU Y KHOA VIEÄT MYÕ    Summary of the monthly seminar at Vietnamese American Medical Research  Foundation  Sunday Aug. 5, 2001    This month's lectures focus on two exciting and up to date topics. Sixty-five  guests attended the conference.    1. The medical lecture was presented by outstanding guest speaker: Dr. Nguyen  Duc Kien of University of California at Davis on the most controversial and  hot subject in the field of Anesthesiology and Critical care Medicine: "The  small volume resuscitation in trauma patients". Dr. Kien Nguyen had his  Doctor in Physiology at Ohio State University and he did his post-Doctoral  fellowship at Harvard University and National Institute of Health (NIH).  Currently, he has his appointment at University of California-Davis,  Sacramento, California, as Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical  CareMedicine. After welcoming introduction from our President, Dr. Luong vinh  quoc Khanh, Dr. Nguyen thanked the Foundation for inviting him to sunny  Southern California and spending Sunday afternoon with friends. Dr. Nguyen  reviewed the progress that has been made over many decades since the WWI to  now with the introduction of hypertonic solution (HTS). HTS has been used  since 1926, but not until 1990, when it was used in treatment of hemorrhagic  shock. He explained the physiological mechanisms of HTS as plasma volume  expansion,vasodilator, and cardiac performance enhancer. HTS has been shown  to increasethe cardiac output and arterial pressure by causing fluid shift  intravascularly, decrease peripheral resistance, and decrease  endothelialedema. Dr. Nguyen stated that with the use of HTS in trauma  patients, the survival rate will increase about 5%, and especially useful in  pre-hospital situations. HTS may play important role in Europe, Third world  countries or in battlefield because of its availability, inexpensiveness, and  easy to use aswell as beneficial effects. However, he cautioned that the use  of HTSmight cause hypernatremia, hypokalemia, chloride acidosis, tissue  dehydration, transient hypotension, and diuresis. Dr. Nguyen recommended the  use of 7.5%NaCl with 6% Dextran at the dose of 250ml per adult (Not approved  by FDA in USA yet). There are contraindications such as dehydration, use in  pediatricpatients, and uncontrolled hemorrhage.          After the talk, Dr. Le D. Gia (Anesthesiologist) joined Dr. Kien as a  panel member to answer various questions regarding the use of HTS and current  state of art in the field of Anesthesiology.    2. The Vietnam issue. The second part of the meeting belongs to the most  prolific and famous writerand poet of our recent history, Mr. Du Tu Le. His  topic explored: "The keys to understand Vietnamese poems". Dr. Nguyen Thanh  Thuy started the talk with his very eloquent and emotional introduction  of  our speaker's life story. Mr. Le then thanked the attending physicians and  guests as well as several personal friends in the audience. He used the board  and chalks to illustrate his 3 important keys to examine and to understand our  poems: comparisons, connection thought, and personalization. He cited many of  his own poems to express his viewpoints regarding these 3 keys. Many of his  poems have been used as lyrics for many well-known songs, during his long and  productive career as writer and poet. The audience was totally delighted with  his insightful knowledge and asked numerous questions about his life and his  poems.          Several professional singers (Ms. My Thuy. Ms. Bich Thuan, and Dr.  Pham Gia Con) also contributed to this evening by singing and reading some of  Mr. Le famous poems.            The eveningconcluded with wonderful and tasty dinner provided by The  Foundation, and entertaining sessions by our amateur singers.                                          Prepared by Dr.William C. Nguyen.