Heart & lung : the journal of critical care
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Observational Study
Potential biomarkers for early diagnosis of acute aortic dissection.
The purpose of this study was to identify biological markers for early diagnosis of acute aortic dissection (AAD). ⋯ smMHC, sELAF, PC1, or D-dimer alone is a biomarker for early diagnosis of AAD, but the combination of these markers has significantly higher diagnostic value.
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To investigate the attitudes of Greek intensive care unit (ICU) medical and nursing staff towards euthanasia. ⋯ Confusion prevails among Greek ICU physicians and nurses regarding the definition of euthanasia. The majority of staff disagrees with active euthanasia, but upholds its legalization.
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Review
Ventilator-associated events prevention, learning lessons from the past: A systematic review.
Preventing Ventilator-associated events (VAE) is a major challenge. Strictly monitoring for ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is not sufficient to ensure positive outcomes. Therefore, the surveillance definition was updated and a change to the broader VAE was advocated. ⋯ VAP prevention bundles have historically proven their efficacy and the introduction of the new VAE definition aimed at refining and objectivizing surveillance methods. Randomized controlled trials remain vital to determine the effect of VAE prevention on patient outcomes. We recommend expanding beyond limited VAP prevention strategies towards VAE prevention bundles.