Medizinische Klinik, Intensivmedizin und Notfallmedizin
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Med Klin Intensivmed Notfmed · Apr 2013
Review[Cancer patients in the intensive care unit. Goals of therapy, ethics, and palliation].
Providing critical care to cancer patients requires a high degree of practical multidisciplinary teamwork between intensivists and cancer specialists. Intensivists should have a solid basic knowledge of malignant diseases as well as of the typical complications of the underlying illness and its therapies. ⋯ Both parties should have a realistic impression of the short-term intensive care and long-term oncologic options and perspectives of the respective patient. Good cooperation between intensivists and cancer specialists is the basis for meaningful decisions on admission, planning of individual therapeutic aims, successful patient management, and tailored therapy, with a smooth transition into a palliative care setting whenever appropriate.
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Med Klin Intensivmed Notfmed · Apr 2013
Review[Appropriate diagnostics in emergency admission. Echocardiography].
Echocardiography is the central imaging modality for the diagnosis of myocardial, valvular and structural heart disease. Coronary artery disease can be detected by impaired left ventricular function. The rapid bedside application in unstable patients requiring immediate diagnostics and treatment is a decisive advantage of echocardiography. ⋯ Echocardiography also has an important impact in the differential diagnosis of chest pain symptoms. The application of echocardiography in the emergency department may set the course for understanding of the underlying disease processes as well as the required treatment strategy. Due to the operator dependency of the technique, a meaningful application of echocardiography requires an experienced investigator even in the emergency department.
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Med Klin Intensivmed Notfmed · Apr 2013
Case Reports[Hyponatremic encephalopathy with non-cardiogenic pulmonary edema. Development following marathon run].
This article presents the case of a 52-year-old woman who developed exercise-associated hyponatremia (EAH) complicated by non-cardiogenic pulmonary edema after a marathon run. The condition of EAH is a potentially life-threatening complication of endurance exercise. ⋯ Known risk factors are female gender, slow running pace and lack of weight loss. Emergency therapy is fluid restriction and bolus infusion of 3% NaCl solution to rapidly reduce brain edema.