Chest
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Severe pulmonary edema occurred in a patient during the third trimester of two consecutive pregnancies, 17 months apart. Noncardiac origin of the pulmonary edema was demonstrated by normal pulmonary capillary wedge pressures, normal roentgenographic cardiac dimensions with absence of effusions, normal echocardiographic ejection fraction, and elevated thermodilution cardiac outputs; moderate reduction in serum albumin levels may have contributed. In the setting of pregnancy-induced hypertension, the development of ARDS on each occasion suggests a pathophysiologic link.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Positive end-expiratory pressure vs T-piece. Extubation after mechanical ventilation.
Because T-piece breathing may impair oxygenation, the best airway pressure from which to extubate ventilated patients is controversial. We compared the effects of extubation after 1 h of either CPAP 5 and T-piece/ZEEP. Once weaned from mechanical ventilation and breathing spontaneously, 106 patients were randomized to 1 h CPAP or 1 h T-piece/ZEEP, following which patients were extubated and mask O2 administered. ⋯ Nineteen T-piece patients showed improved P(A-a)O2 at 120 min compared with only ten CPAP patients. Three CPAP and two T-piece patients subsequently required reintubation. This study demonstrates that use of a T-piece dose not impair arterial oxygenation and may in fact be superior to direct extubation from CPAP 5.
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The objective of this study was to refine the APACHE (Acute Physiology, Age, Chronic Health Evaluation) methodology in order to more accurately predict hospital mortality risk for critically ill hospitalized adults. We prospectively collected data on 17,440 unselected adult medical/surgical intensive care unit (ICU) admissions at 40 US hospitals (14 volunteer tertiary-care institutions and 26 hospitals randomly chosen to represent intensive care services nationwide). We analyzed the relationship between the patient's likelihood of surviving to hospital discharge and the following predictive variables: major medical and surgical disease categories, acute physiologic abnormalities, age, preexisting functional limitations, major comorbidities, and treatment location immediately prior to ICU admission. ⋯ The overall predictive accuracy of the first-day APACHE III equation was such that, within 24 h of ICU admission, 95 percent of ICU admissions could be given a risk estimate for hospital death that was within 3 percent of that actually observed (r2 = 0.41; receiver operating characteristic = 0.90). Recording changes in the APACHE III score on each subsequent day of ICU therapy provided daily updates in these risk estimates. When applied across the individual ICUs, the first-day APACHE III equation accounted for the majority of variation in observed death rates (r2 = 0.90, p less than 0.0001).
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Comparative Study
Modification of an aerosol mask to provide high concentrations of oxygen in the inspired air. Comparison to a nonrebreathing mask.
With a few simple modifications, an aerosol mask was adapted to deliver high concentrations of oxygen. We compared the delivery of high concentrations of oxygen by this modified aerosol mask (MAM) with that of a nonrebreathing mask (NRM) in five normal volunteers and six patients with respiratory failure. Besides improved oxygenation, the MAM also permitted the following: humidification of the inspired oxygen, nebulization of bronchodilators, oropharyngeal suctioning, and performance of fiberoptic bronchoscopy. In lieu of intubation and mechanical ventilation, MAM may be a better alternative to a NRM for maintaining adequate oxygenation until the clinical situation improves.
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Enteral delivery of nutrients is important for optimal treatment of critically ill patients. It maintains gut digestive and barrier functions, decreases gut bacterial translocation, decreases the incidence of sepsis, and improves outcome. Gastric emptying is impaired in many critically ill patients and feeding into a gastroparetic stomach leads to large gastric residuals and aspiration. ⋯ The average time for placement of small bowel feeding tubes was 40 +/- 14 min (mean +/- SD). Abdominal roentgenograms failed to properly locate 13 (6 percent) tubes. The most accurate and cheapest methods for confirming small bowel location of feeding tubes were bile aspiration, pH change from acidic to basic, and blue dye injection.