Critical care medicine
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Critical care medicine · Jun 2007
ReviewA systematic review of urinary findings in experimental septic acute renal failure.
In experimental septic acute renal failure, urinary analysis is used to help diagnose and classify renal injury. However, the scientific basis for such use has not been systematically evaluated. Thus, we appraised the value of common urinary findings for the diagnosis and classification of experimental septic acute renal failure. ⋯ No conclusions are possible on how several urinary tests perform in diagnosing or classifying acute renal failure or in predicting the presence of acute tubular necrosis in experimental sepsis. Additional research is necessary to define the diagnostic and prognostic value of urinalysis in experimental sepsis.
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To review mechanisms underlying sepsis-induced cardiac dysfunction in general and intrinsic myocardial depression in particular. ⋯ Integrative studies are needed to distinguish the hierarchy of the various mechanisms underlying septic cardiac dysfunction. As many of these changes are related to severe inflammation and not to infection per se, a better understanding of septic myocardial dysfunction may be usefully extended to other systemic inflammatory conditions encountered in the critically ill. Myocardial depression may be arguably viewed as an adaptive event by reducing energy expenditure in a situation when energy generation is limited, thereby preventing activation of cell death pathways and allowing the potential for full functional recovery.