Critical care medicine
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Critical care medicine · Mar 2000
Comparative StudyImproved outcome prediction in unconscious cardiac arrest survivors with sensory evoked potentials compared with clinical assessment.
To compare the prognostic ability of sensory evoked potentials in cardiac arrest survivors with the outcome predicted by a panel of experienced emergency physicians based on detailed prehospital, clinical, and laboratory data. ⋯ In unconscious cardiac arrest survivors, a recording of long-latency sensory evoked potentials is more accurate in predicting individual outcome than an emergency physician review of clinical data.
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Critical care medicine · Mar 2000
Single-breath CO2 analysis as a predictor of lung volume change in a model of acute lung injury.
To examine the utility of single-breath CO2 analysis as a measure of lung volume change in a model of acute lung injury. ⋯ Our data indicate that analysis of the CO2 expirogram can yield accurate information about lung volume in animals with saline lavage-induced acute lung injury. Specifically, five variables derived from a plot of expired CO2 concentration vs. expired volume predict changes in lung volume in healthy lambs with an adjusted coefficient of determination of 0.94. We hope to further define the utility of this technique by prospective application of this methodology in the clinical setting.
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Critical care medicine · Mar 2000
Diaspirin cross-linked hemoglobin improves mucosal perfusion in the ileum of septic rats.
To determine the effect of a bolus infusion of diaspirin cross-linked hemoglobin (DCLHb or hemoglobin crosfumaril) on the ileal mucosal microcirculation in septic rats. ⋯ Both DCLHb and pentastarch infusion improved microcirculatory perfusion in the ileum of septic rats. In addition, DCLHb also exhibited vasopressor properties, which in combination with improved perfusion may be particularly useful in the treatment of sepsis.
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Critical care medicine · Mar 2000
Thrombus formation on the balloon of heparin-bonded pulmonary artery catheters: an ultrastructural scanning electron microscope study.
To investigate heparin-bonded pulmonary artery catheters with respect to thrombus formation and platelet aggregation at the balloon and the shaft using a scanning electron microscope in critically ill patients. ⋯ Scanning electron microscopic images of heparin-bonded pulmonary artery catheters demonstrate thrombus formation on the balloon 24 hrs after pulmonary artery catheter insertion, increasing dramatically at 72 and 120 hrs. The shaft was colonized by single cells only. The thrombus size is not significantly different during the observation time, but the grade and quality of thrombus formation differ.
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Critical care medicine · Mar 2000
Outcome of children who require mechanical ventilatory support after bone marrow transplantation.
To identify clinically measurable factors that could predict outcome for pediatric patients undergoing mechanical ventilatory support after bone marrow transplant. ⋯ Although the prognosis generally is poor among pediatric bone marrow transplant recipients who subsequently require mechanical ventilatory support, there appear to be some groups within this population in whom the likelihood of survival is close to 0. Because the chance of survival was so small for children with dysfunction of more than one organ system on day 7 after intubation, a recommendation to limit medical support for these children could be considered pending the results of other studies.