Journal of critical care
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Journal of critical care · Mar 1999
Development, implementation, and evaluation of a ketoconazole practice guideline for ARDS prophylaxis.
The purpose of this study was to develop, implement, and evaluate a practice guideline using ketoconazole for the prevention of the adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in critically ill patients. ⋯ Development and implementation of a prophylactic ketoconazole practice guideline for ICU patients at high risk of ARDS was associated with a higher prescription of ketoconazole and a lower rate of ARDS in the study hospital than in the control hospital.
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Journal of critical care · Mar 1999
Relationship between blood lactate and early hepatic dysfunction in acute circulatory failure.
The purpose of this study was to assess the influence of early hepatic dysfunction on lactate level in patients with acute circulatory failure in a retrospective study. ⋯ This study suggests that early hepatic dysfunction plays an important role in serum lactate elevation in acute circulatory failure.
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Journal of critical care · Mar 1999
Effect of hospital-acquired ventilator-associated pneumonia on mortality of severe community-acquired pneumonia.
The purpose of this article is to evaluate, using two pairwise case-control studies, attributable mortality linked to hospital-acquired ventilator-associated pneumonia (HA-VAP) complicating the intensive care unit (ICU) stay of patients exhibiting severe community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). ⋯ When confounding factors were controlled, HA-VAP appeared to increase mortality of severe CAP requiring ICU admission.
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Journal of critical care · Mar 1999
Katacalcin and calcitonin immunoreactivity in different types of leukocytes indicate intracellular procalcitonin content.
Procalcitonin is a new marker of severity of nonviral, in particular, bacterial infections. In respect of sepsis its site of production remains unknown. This study was carried out to determine whether subsets of human leukocytes contain procalcitonin. ⋯ Intracellular antibody reaction against katacalcin supports the notion that various types of leukocytes contain procalcitonin.
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Liquid perfluorochemicals reduce the production of reaction oxygen species by alveolar macrophages. We sought to determine whether the use of liquid perfluorochemicals in vivo during liquid ventilation would attenuate oxidative damage to the lung. ⋯ These data suggest that partial liquid ventilation supports gas exchange and reduces mortality in association with a reduction in the production of reactive oxygen species and the concomitant attenuation of tissue damage during the early phase of acute lung injury.