Critical care medicine
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Critical care medicine · Mar 2014
Review Meta AnalysisClinical Outcomes, Predictors, and Prevalence of Anterior Pituitary Disorders Following Traumatic Brain Injury: A Systematic Review.
To assess the clinical outcomes, predictors, and prevalence of anterior pituitary disorders following traumatic brain injury. ⋯ Approximately one third of traumatic brain injury patients have persistent anterior pituitary disorder. Older age, traumatic brain injury severity, and skull fractures predict anterior pituitary disorders, which in turn may be associated with higher ICU mortality. Further high-quality studies are warranted to better define the burden of anterior pituitary disorders and to identify high-risk patients.
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Critical care medicine · Mar 2014
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative StudyEvaluating the Efficacy and Safety of Two Doses of the Polyclonal Anti-Tumor Necrosis Factor-α Fragment Antibody AZD9773 in Adult Patients With Severe Sepsis and/or Septic Shock: Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Phase IIb Study.
This trial compared the efficacy/safety of two IV doses of AZD9773, a polyclonal antibody to tumor necrosis factor-α, in adult patients with severe sepsis/septic shock. ⋯ AZD9773 rapidly and efficiently decreased plasma tumor necrosis factor-α concentration in patients with severe sepsis/septic shock, but this effect did not translate into clinical benefit.
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Critical care medicine · Mar 2014
Review Meta Analysis Comparative StudyTwo Decades of Mortality Trends Among Patients With Severe Sepsis: A Comparative Meta-Analysis.
Trends in severe sepsis mortality derived from administrative data may be biased by changing International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification, coding practices. We sought to determine temporal trends in severe sepsis mortality using clinical trial data that does not rely on International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modifications coding and compare mortality trends in trial data with those observed from administrative data. ⋯ Since 1991, patients with severe sepsis enrolled in usual care arms of multicenter randomized trials have experienced decreasing mortality. The mortality trends identified in clinical trial participants appear similar to those identified using administrative data and support the use of administrative data to monitor mortality trends in patients with severe sepsis.
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Critical care medicine · Mar 2014
Observational StudyEffects of Viscosity on Cerebral Blood Flow After Cardiac Arrest.
To determine blood viscosity in adult comatose patients treated with mild therapeutic hypothermia after cardiac arrest and to assess the relation between blood viscosity, cerebral blood flow, and cerebral oxygen extraction. ⋯ Changes in blood viscosity in vivo are associated with changes in flow velocity in the middle cerebral artery. High viscosity early after cardiac arrest may reduce cerebral blood flow and may contribute to secondary brain injury. Further studies are needed to determine the optimal viscosity during the different stages of the postcardiac arrest syndrome.
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Critical care medicine · Mar 2014
Multicenter Study Observational StudyImpact of Distinct Definitions of Acute Lung Injury on Its Incidence and Outcomes in Brazilian ICUs: Prospective Evaluation of 7,133 Patients.
Evaluation of prevalence and outcomes of acute lung injury in a large cohort of critically ill patients in Brazil and comparison of predictive receiver operating characteristic curve mortality of American European Consensus conference definition with new Berlin definition of acute respiratory distress syndrome. ⋯ In our population, prevalence of acute lung injury was low, most cases were diagnosed 2 days after ICU admission, and Berlin definition was not different from American European Consensus conference definition in predicting mortality. There are still several problems with the global epidemiology, definition, and mortality predictive indices that should be added to the classification of this still lethal syndrome to improve its predictive mortality power in the future.