Neurocritical care
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To assess the impact of blood glucose, coagulopathy, seizures and prior statin and aspirin use on clinical outcome following intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). ⋯ The significant association of prior statin use with decreased mortality warrants prospective evaluation of the use of statins following ICH.
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The vast majority of patients with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) are admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU). Patients admitted to ICUs have a high risk of developing nosocomial infections, while complicating infection appears to be associated with a longer ICU stay. An increased length of ICU stay translates directly into increased costs. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of a complicating infection on the length of ICU stay in patients with ICH. ⋯ Complicating infection was an independent predictor of a prolonged ICU stay in patients with ICH.
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Dysautonomia is a characteristic finding in Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS). Sinus tachycardia, blood pressure instability, sustained hypertension or hypotension, cardiac arrhythmias, sweating abnormalities, gastrointestinal or urogenital symptoms, and neurogenic stunned myocardium have been previously described in patients with GBS. To our knowledge, increased intrapulmonary shunts in association with GBS have not yet been reported. ⋯ Intrapulmonary shunts in GBS may relate to sympathetic overactivation and should be anticipated in GBS patients with unexplained respiratory deterioration.