Critical care medicine
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Critical care medicine · May 2007
Recombinant human activated protein C inhibits local and systemic activation of coagulation without influencing inflammation during Pseudomonas aeruginosa pneumonia in rats.
Alveolar fibrin deposition is a hallmark of pneumonia. It has been proposed that recombinant human activated protein C exerts lung-protective effects via anticoagulant and anti-inflammatory pathways. We investigated the role of the protein C system in pneumonia caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the organism that is predominantly involved in ventilator-associated pneumonia. ⋯ In patients with ventilator-associated pneumonia, the pulmonary protein C pathway is impaired at the site of infection, and local anticoagulant activity may be insufficient. Recombinant human activated protein C prevents procoagulant changes in the lung; however, it does not seem to alter the pulmonary host defense against P. aeruginosa pneumonia.
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The appearance of ultrasound images depends critically on the physical interactions of sound with the tissues in the body. The basic principles of ultrasound imaging and the physical reasons for many common artifacts are described.