Medicina
-
Candida spondylodiscitis associatd with epidural abscess is rarely seen. We present a patient with Hodgkin lymphoma who received chemotherapy and developed systemic Candida infection, which was complicated by Candida spondylodiscitis and epidural abscess.
-
An experimental model was devised to study the effects of a sustained insufflation maneuver on the immediate response to exogenous surfactant administration and the effects of baseline pulmonary volume subsequently used in 20 adult albino rats. Lung-injury was induced by repeated lavages with saline solution. Gas exchange, hemodynamic status, lung mechanics and histopathology were assessed. ⋯ Increased PaO2 associated to high functional residual capacity (FRC) (Group 1 p = 0.0001; Group 2 p = 0.0001), regardless of sustained insufflation, was observed. The use of sustained insufflation prior to surfactant administration along with high FRC ventilation was associated with polymorphonuclear infiltrates beneath the bronchiolar epithelium (p = 0.008). Our results do not advocate the use of sustained insufflation prior to the administration of exogenous surfactant.
-
Comparative Study
[Death in an intensive care unit. Influence of life support withholding and withdrawal].
The influence of life support withholding and withdrawal on the deaths which occurred in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) over a period of 32 months was analysed. Of 2640 patients admitted in ICU, one of the following five mutually exclusive categories was registered on the 548 patients who died: (i) complete treatment; (ii) complete treatment with non-resuscitation order (NRO); (iii) withholding of life-sustaining treatment; (iv) withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment; and (v) brain death. ⋯ The comparative analysis with other statistic information suggests the existence of a similar global therapeutic limitation mean in communities with similar cultural background, even if there is a lower influence of life support withdrawal (8.2%) when compared to other countries regardless of their attitude towards the need to establish different degrees of control over technological resources applied to the critically ill. Further research should analyze the influence that moral perception of withdrawal as inconvenient in our society, has over our findings.
-
Impending paradoxical embolism. An intracardiac thrombus traversing a patent foramen ovale is a very infrequent but potentially catastrophic complication of the thromboembolic disease. It is named "impending paradoxical embolism". ⋯ Diagnosis was confirmed by HCT scan and the patient received anticoagulation with heparin. A transesophageal ecocardiogram disclosed a thrombus traversing foramen ovale into the left atrium. Surgical embolectomy was performed, but the patient died shortly after surgery.
-
The term paroxysmal sympathetic storms is used to define episodic alterations in body temperature, blood pressure, heart and respiratory rate, size of pupil, and level of consciousness coinciding with hyperhidrosis, excessive salivation and extensor posturing. All the cases were presented after severe diffuse axonal head injury. We present two young patients with diffuse axonal head injury that develop in their evolution hypertension, tachycardia and fever without evidence during the episodes of epileptiform activity and without any infectious cause with excellent answer to the treatment with beta-blockers and morphine. We consider that the correct diagnosis of this entity minimizes the application of unnecessary studies allowing an appropriate treatment.