Intensive care medicine
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Intensive care medicine · Sep 2011
The Italian ECMO network experience during the 2009 influenza A(H1N1) pandemic: preparation for severe respiratory emergency outbreaks.
In view of the expected 2009 influenza A(H1N1) pandemic, the Italian Health Authorities set up a national referral network of selected intensive care units (ICU) able to provide advanced respiratory care up to extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) for patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). We describe the organization and results of the network, known as ECMOnet. ⋯ A network organization based on preemptive patient centralization allowed a high survival rate and provided effective and safe referral of patients with severe H1N1-suspected ARDS.
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Intensive care medicine · Sep 2011
Perceived stress and team performance during a simulated resuscitation.
Barriers to optimal performance of cardiopulmonary resuscitation may partly relate to human factors, such as stress and specific emotions. The aim of this study was to investigate whether mental stress and different perceived emotions have a negative impact on the performance of rescuers. ⋯ A simulated cardiac arrest caused substantial perceived stress/overload and negative emotions, particularly in female students, which adversely impacted resuscitation performance. Further studies are required to expand our findings to more experienced medical professionals and investigate whether stress coping strategies improve resuscitation performance.
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Intensive care medicine · Sep 2011
Comparative StudyLung ultrasound in critically ill patients: comparison with bedside chest radiography.
To compare the diagnostic performance of lung ultrasound and bedside chest radiography (CXR) for the detection of various pathologic abnormalities in unselected critically ill patients, using thoracic computed tomography (CT) as a gold standard. ⋯ In our unselected general ICU population lung ultrasound has a considerably better diagnostic performance than CXR for the diagnosis of common pathologic conditions and may be used as an alternative to thoracic CT.
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Intensive care medicine · Sep 2011
Comparative StudyComparison of carbamylated erythropoietin-FC fusion protein and recombinant human erythropoietin during porcine aortic balloon occlusion-induced spinal cord ischemia/reperfusion injury.
Recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEPO) attenuated ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury-induced spinal cord damage. Since carbamylated EPO derivatives are stated to be devoid of rhEPO side effects, we tested the hypothesis that a newly developed carbamylated EPO-FC fusion protein (cEPO-FC) would compare favorably with rhEPO. ⋯ In a porcine model of aortic balloon occlusion-induced spinal cord I/R injury, cEPO-FC and rhEPO comparably protected against ischemic spinal cord dysfunction and neuronal damage. This effect coincided with attenuated oxidative stress.