Medicina intensiva
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Letter Case Reports
[Pneumorrhachis: a rare complication of an asthma episode].
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
[Microbiological profile of infections in the Intensive Care Units of Colombia (EPISEPSIS Colombia].
Valid and reliable data regarding sepsis is lacking in Colombia. Our aim was to determine the prevalence of the microorganisms in the main infections treated in Intensive Care Units (ICUs) in our country. ⋯ Pneumonia was the main cause of infection regardless of the site of acquisition. E. coli was the most prevalent germ, except in the pulmonary infections acquired in UCI in which S. aureus was the most prevalent.
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Being a solid organ and hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipient as well as receiving chemotherapy for a malignant hematological disease clearly predispose the subject to a variety of viral infections, both common and opportunistic diseases. The patient may have acquired these infections from the community as well as from the donor organ (donor-derived infections) and/or from reactivation of an endogenous latent virus. ⋯ Treatment consists in antiviral drug therapies combined with the reduction in the degree of the induced immunosuppression. A review of the literature has been performed in order to update the epidemiology, pathogenesis, clinical manifestations and therapeutic approach of the viral infections in these immunocompromised patients.
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Administration of statins has been shown to be effective in reducing cardiovascular mortality. Their benefit could expand towards other areas of intensive medicine, it being possible to decrease mortality of the critically ill patient. ⋯ Even though most of the patients who had previously taken statins did so as primary or secondary prevention, thus having greater comorbidity, overall, a decrease is detected in the mortality of these subgroups. This benefit could be generalized to all the critical conditions, although studies with a higher level of evidence are needed for their adequate comparison.
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Intensive care medicine is a medical specialty that was officially established in our country in 1978, with a 5-year training program including two years of common core training followed by three years of specific training in an intensive care unit accredited for training. During this 32-year period, intensive care medicine has carried out an intense and varied activity, which has allowed its positioning as an attractive and with future specialty in the hospital setting. This document summarizes the history of the specialty, its current situation, the key role played in the programs of organ donation and transplantation of the National Transplant Organization (after more than 20 years of mutual collaboration), its training activities with the development of the National Plan of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, with a trajectory of more than 25 years, its interest in providing care based on quality and safety programs for the severely ill patient. ⋯ Medicina Intensiva is indexed in the Thompson Reuters products of Science Citation Index Expanded (Scisearch(®)) and Journal Citation Reports, Science Edition. The important contribution of the Spanish intensive care medicine to the scientific community is also analyzed, and in relation to the future of intensive care medicine in Spain and in Europe, recommendations are made towards specialization in intensive care medicine incorporating in the training program those competences (knowledge, skills and attitudes) that should be present an intensivist in Europe and that are extensively fulfilled by the current Spanish training program. The trajectory followed by intensive care medicine in Europe and recently in China, shows the increasing need of intensive care and the progressive recognition of the specialty in economically growing countries, and emphasizes the need of homogenization in the training of future specialists in intensive care medicine globally.