Intensive care medicine
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Intensive care medicine · Mar 1997
Clinical Trial Controlled Clinical TrialCytokine removal and cardiovascular hemodynamics in septic patients with continuous venovenous hemofiltration.
To determine whether continuous venovenous hemofiltration leads to extraction of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha) and cytokines from the circulation of critically ill patients with sepsis and acute renal failure and to quantitate the clearance and the removal rate of these cytokines and their effect on serum cytokine concentrations. ⋯ These findings demonstrate that CVVH can remove TNF alpha and special cytokines from the circulation of critically ill patients. Cardiovascular hemodynamics seemed to improve in septic patients after induction of hemofiltration treatment, although there was no evidence that extracorporeal removal of cytokines achieved a reduction in blood levels. The study indicates that low volume continuous hemofiltration with polysulphone membranes in patients with acute renal failure is not able to induce significant removal of cytokines.
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Intensive care medicine · Mar 1997
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialInfluence of enoximone on systemic and splanchnic oxygen utilization and endotoxin release following cardiopulmonary bypass.
We investigated whether the administration of enoximone during and after cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) improves splanchnic oxygen utilization and thereby gut mucosal integrity in humans by its vasodilating and inotropic properties. ⋯ Improvement of oxygen delivery by enoximone did not prevent gastric mucosal acidosis following CPB. However, since the increase in endotoxin levels in liver venous blood was diminished by using enoximone, the drug seems to have a beneficial effect on tissue damage and barrier function of the gut.
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Intensive care medicine · Mar 1997
How reliable is the predictive value of SEP (somatosensory evoked potentials) patterns in severe brain damage with special regard to the bilateral loss of cortical responses?
In patients sustaining severe brain damage (SBD), prediction of later outcome is often very difficult, in particular under conditions of therapeutic management like relaxation and intravenous phenobarbital. Somatosensory evoked potentials (SEP) correlated best with later prognosis and expected neurological deficit. In detail, the primary bilateral loss of cortical responses (BLCR) is regarded to be a reliable marker for poor prognosis. The goal of the following prospective study was to reassess the prognostic value of early serial median nerve SEP recording in severe brain damage in comparison to other neurophysiological, clinical, and neuroradiological parameters and, additionally, to test the hypothesis, that the BLCR-pattern is always associated with a poor prognosis and is never reversible. ⋯ SEP allow an early reliable assessment of both poor and good prognosis in SBD, in particular when applied serially. BLCR does not always imply a fatal diagnosis, as a circumscribed contusional lesion rarely may lead to selective reversible blockage of ascending somatosensory pathways in the brainstem. In contradiction to this lesional etiology, a hypoxia-induced BLCR pattern seems to correlate strictly with a poor prognosis, reflecting a different pathogenesis with diffuse destruction of cortex and thalamocortical pathways.
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Intensive care medicine · Mar 1997
Case ReportsARDS caused by herpes simplex virus pneumonia in a patient with Crohn's disease: a case report.
Pneumonia caused by herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV1) is rare and occurs in severely immunosuppressed patients. HSV1 can be detected in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) from patients presenting with respiratory failure, but its direct effect on disease is difficult to prove. We demonstrate the causative role of HSV1 in the case of a 44-year-old male with Crohn's disease who presented to the intensive care unit with the acute respiratory distress syndrome after surgery. ⋯ A lung biposy specimen showed fibroproliferation without pathogens. Immunosuppressive therapy had been stopped and acyclovir was introduced at this time. The diagnostic difficulties in this patient underline the importance of early recognition of viral infection as a potential cause of severe pneumonia in severely ill, immunocompromised patients.
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Intensive care medicine · Mar 1997
Editorial CommentFeeding the critically ill--should we do better?