BioMed research international
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Early cardiopulmonary resuscitation together with early defibrillation is a key point in the chain of survival for cardiac arrest. Optimizing the timing of defibrillation by predicting the possibility of successful electric shock can guide treatments between defibrillation and cardiopulmonary resuscitation and improve the rate of restoration of spontaneous circulation. Numerous methods have been proposed for predicting defibrillation success based on quantification of the ventricular fibrillation waveform during past decades. ⋯ Electrocardiographic recordings of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients were obtained from the external defibrillators. The performance of the proposed method was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic curve and compared with the results of other established features. The results indicated that median stepping increment has comparable performance to the established methods in predicting the likelihood of successful defibrillation.
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Controlled Clinical Trial
Propofol requirement for induction of unconsciousness is reduced in patients with Parkinson's disease: a case control study.
Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most prevalent neurodegenerative disease, but whether the neurodegenerative process influences the pharmacodynamics of propofol remains unclear. We aimed to evaluate the effect of PD on pharmacodynamics of propofol. A total of 31 PD patients undergoing surgical treatment (PD group) and 31 pair-controlled non-PD patients undergoing intracranial surgery (NPD group) were recruited to investigate the propofol requirement for unconsciousness induction. ⋯ The mean target concentration of propofol when unconsciousness was achieved was 2.32 ± 0.38 μg/mL in PD group, which was significantly lower than that in NPD group (2.90 ± 0.35 μg/mL). The EC50 was 2.05 μg/mL (95% CI: 1.85-2.19 μg/mL) in PD group, much lower than the 2.72 μg/mL (95% CI: 2.53-2.88 μg/mL) in NPD group. In conclusion, the effective propofol concentration needed for induction of unconsciousness in 50% of patients is reduced in PD patients. (This trial is registered with NCT01998204.).
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Multicenter Study
Sublingual Immunotherapy with a Five-Grass Pollen Tablet in Adult Patients with Allergic Rhinitis: An Open, Prospective, Noninterventional, Multicenter Study.
Although the safety and efficacy of sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) with a five-grass pollen tablet have been demonstrated in randomized clinical trials (RCTs), these outcomes must always be evaluated in real-life medical practice. ⋯ In a large population of patients treated in real-life medical practice, SLIT with a five-grass pollen tablet was safe and well tolerated. The patient-reported symptom relief suggests that SLIT was associated with clinical benefits.
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Controlled Clinical Trial
Flail chest in polytraumatized patients: surgical fixation using Stracos reduces ventilator time and hospital stay.
Conservative management of patients with flail chest is the treatment of choice. Rib fracture repair is technically challenging; however, with the advent of specially designed molding titanium clips, surgical management has been simplified. Surgical stabilization has been used with good outcomes. We are reporting on our institutional matched-case-control study. ⋯ Rib fixation with Stracos is feasible and decreases the length of ventilation and hospital stay. A multicenter randomized study is warranted so as to confirm these results and to evaluate impact on pulmonary function status, pain, and quality of life.
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We assessed the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or heat shock (HS) induction of heat shock protein-72 (HSP72) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of patients with severe sepsis (SS) or trauma-related systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), compared to healthy individuals (H); we also investigated any pre- or posttreatment modulating glutamine (Gln) effect. ⋯ HSP72 mRNA and l/mHSP72 are higher among critically ill patients, further induced by HS, not by LPS. HSP72 proteins and HSP72 mRNA are related to serum ILs and are negatively related to supernatant cytokines, not being influenced by HSP72 polymorphisms, cortisol, or illness severity. Gln may depress l/mHSP72 after LPS exposure and enhance them after HS induction, but it may not affect early induced HSP72 mRNA.