Shock : molecular, cellular, and systemic pathobiological aspects and therapeutic approaches : the official journal the Shock Society, the European Shock Society, the Brazilian Shock Society, the International Federation of Shock Societies
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Blood transfusion remains an essential treatment of acute anemia. Current storage processes allow the efficient administration of blood products. Erythrocytes undergo morphological and biochemical changes during storage that may affect outcomes after transfusion. ⋯ Corpuscular changes consistent with red cell storage lesions appeared earlier in murine samples compared with human stored pRBCs. Compared with human pRBCs, murine pRBCs exhibit similar but more accelerated aging processes under standard storage conditions. Characterization of the murine red cell storage lesion will allow the application of stored blood components to future investigations into the treatment of acute anemia in experimental murine models.
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Meta Analysis
Predictors of mortality in adult patients with ventilator-associated pneumonia: a meta-analysis.
Studies exploring predictors of mortality in patients with ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) produced conflicting results. The present work is a meta-analysis of studies that enrolled only patients with microbiologically confirmed VAP and reported on mortality. Potentially eligible reports were searched in PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, and HEALTHSTAR with no language restrictions. ⋯ Isolation of nonfermenting gram-negative bacteria in general (OR, 1.71; 95% CI, 1.09-2.68) and Acinetobacter baumannii in specific (OR, 1.74; 95% CI, 1.02-2.96) was also associated with higher fatality. Intensive care unit admission caused by trauma, as opposed to other reasons, was linked to lower mortality (OR, 0.35; 95% CI, 0.22-0.57). These findings may help investigators to formulate appropriate predicting scores for patients with VAP and may further motivate clinicians to provide appropriate initial treatment and to manage sepsis and shock optimally in such patients.
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Heart period variability (HPV) metrics have been suggested for use in medical monitoring of trauma patients. This study sought to ascertain the use of various HPV metrics in tracking central blood volume during simulated hemorrhage in individual humans. One hundred one healthy nonsmoking volunteers (58 men, 43 women) were instrumented for continuous measurement of electrocardiogram and beat-by-beat finger arterial blood pressure. ⋯ This cross-correlation of difference scores revealed that none of the HPV metrics showed strong and consistent correlations (|r| < or = 0.49) with percentage change in SV across successive LBNP levels. Although aggregate group mean values for HPV metrics are well correlated with SV changes during central hypovolemia, these metrics are less reliable when tracking individual reductions in central volume during LBNP. HPV metrics, therefore, may not be useful in monitoring hemorrhagic injuries in individual patients.
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Recent reports have indicated that IL-1[beta] is excessively released into the circulation during sepsis, and the expression level is closely correlated with the clinical course. Polymorphisms in the promoter region of IL-1B have been shown to affect LPS-induced IL-1[beta] transcription in vitro and IL-1[beta] plasma levels in healthy adults and to confer susceptibility to inflammatory diseases. However, it is not clear whether they confer susceptibility to sepsis after major trauma. ⋯ GCT homozygote patients also showed higher multiple organ dysfunction scores than CTC homozygote patients (P = 0.048). These data suggest that the IL-1[beta] promoter polymorphisms -1470G/C, -511T/C, and -31C/T may be functional both in vitro and in vivo. It may be possible to use these polymorphisms as relevant risk estimates for sepsis in trauma patients.
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As a crucial element of innate immunity, the complement cascade becomes activated after severe trauma. Regulation of the complement cascade and protection against complement-mediated tissue destruction is provided by a selection of soluble and membrane-bound complement regulatory proteins (CRegs). To date, the leukocyte expression profile of CRegs in multiple injured patients is unknown. ⋯ CD88 expression was considerably reduced on leukocytes between 0 and 240 h after injury. CD59, CD46, and CD88 expression values on neutrophils reversely correlated with severity of injury. In summary, expression profiles of CRegs and CD88 on leukocytes are specifically altered after polytrauma in humans, indicating a trauma-induced "complementopathy."