Critical care medicine
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Critical care medicine · Apr 1988
Comparative StudyPatient selection for intensive care: a comparison of New Zealand and United States hospitals.
To examine how the use of intensive care varies, we compared 5,030 adult ICU admissions in 13 U. S. hospitals with 1,005 patients in two New Zealand (N. Z.) hospitals. ⋯ Additional outcome comparisons between acutely ill patients treated in the U. S. and N. Z. could help refine ICU selection criteria and improve the precision of clinical decision-making.
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Critical care medicine · Apr 1988
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial Retracted PublicationInfluence of acute normovolemic hemodilution on extravascular lung water in cardiac surgery.
Preoperative hemodilution (HD) is an established blood-saving method. With HD, however, a concomitant increase in extracellular and interstitial water has been reported. This randomized study was undertaken to compare the effects of acute normovolemic HD (10 ml/kg; n = 15) using hydroxyethyl starch solution (HES) on extravascular lung water (EVLW) with those of an untreated control group (n = 15) of cardiac surgery patients submitted to extracorporeal circulation (ECC). ⋯ Hemodynamic and laboratory variables indicated the typical changes during HD (cardiac index increases while albumin concentration decreases); circulatory stability was maintained during the entire study. We conclude that preoperative normovolemic HD did not increase lung water content significantly nor compromise pulmonary function even in cardiac surgery patients. Although ECC provides an additional HD (crystalloid priming of the heart-lung bypass machine) and possibly damage of capillary integrity, the two groups did not differ.