The use of noninvasive blood pressure measurement measurements in critically ill patients is common despite the paucity of evidence validating its accuracy in critically ill patients. Given this widespread use, accuracy and precision validation studies comparing noninvasive blood pressure measurement with intra-arterial blood pressure measurement in critically ill patients should be performed.

Since its introduction over 9 years ago, capsule video endoscopy has become increasingly popular within the gastroenterology community, leading to its use in a growing number of patients including the elderly. With the widespread adoption of this diagnostic modality within the elderly population comes the added risk of capsule aspiration. We present such a case where a 90-year-old patient was admitted after accidental aspiration of a capsule. Removal of the capsule posed a therapeutic challenge. In the article, we discuss the novel use of a Roth Net expandable foreign body extractor to remove the capsule using a flexible bronchoscope with minimal need for sedation. As video capsule endoscopy is used more routinely in elderly patients and clinical pulmonologists will be more frequently called up to assist in foreign body removal, our experience highlights that it is possible to remove these large capsules with a flexible bronchoscope and avoid the need for rigid bronchoscopy in this high-risk patient group.

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Patients with cardiac disease are described as high risk for complications, including death, when performing flexible bronchoscopy. Practitioners may, therefore, be reluctant to offer this procedure based on this perceived risk. We review the literature regarding the safety of bronchoscopy in adult patients with cardiac disease.