Critical care : the official journal of the Critical Care Forum
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The aim of the study was to assess the influence of annual volume and factors related to intensive care unit (ICU) organization on in-hospital mortality among patients admitted to the ICU with severe sepsis. ⋯ A larger annual volume of patients with severe sepsis admitted to Dutch ICUs is associated with lower in-hospital mortality in this patient group. The presence of a MCU as a step-down facility is associated with greater in-hospital mortality. No other significant associations between in-hospital mortality and factors related to ICU organization were found.
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Several hospitals have been developing programmes for organ donation after cardiac death. Such programmes offer options for organ donation to patients who do not meet brain-death criteria but wish to donate their organs after withdrawal of life-support. These programmes also increase the available organ pool at a time when demand exceeds supply. ⋯ Donation after cardiac death clearly carries a number of important ethical issues with it. In the present issue of Critical Care two established groups debate the ethical acceptability of using medications/interventions in potential organ donors for the sole purpose of making the organs more viable. Such debates will be an increasingly common component of intensivists' future practice.
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Lung ultrasound can be routinely performed at the bedside by intensive care unit physicians and may provide accurate information on lung status with diagnostic and therapeutic relevance. This article reviews the performance of bedside lung ultrasound for diagnosing pleural effusion, pneumothorax, alveolar-interstitial syndrome, lung consolidation, pulmonary abscess and lung recruitment/derecruitment in critically ill patients with acute lung injury.
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The treatment of patients with large hemispheric ischaemic stroke accompanied by massive space-occupying oedema represents one of the major unsolved problems in neurocritical care medicine. Despite maximum intensive care, the prognosis of these patients is poor, with case fatality rates as high as 80%. Therefore, the term 'malignant brain infarction' was coined. ⋯ Meanwhile, data from randomised trials confirm the results of former observational studies, demonstrating that hemicraniectomy not only significantly reduces mortality but also significantly improves clinical outcome without increasing the number of completely dependent patients. Hypothermia is another promising treatment option but still needs evidence of efficacy from randomised controlled trials before it may be recommended for clinical routine use. This review gives the reader an integrated view of the current status of treatment options in massive hemispheric brain infarction, based on the available data of clinical trials, including the most recent data from randomised trials published in 2007.
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Review
Clinical review: timing and dose of continuous renal replacement therapy in acute kidney injury.
The optimal management of renal replacement therapy (RRT) in acute kidney injury (AKI) remains uncertain. Although it is well accepted that initiation of RRT in patients with progressive azotemia prior to the development of overt uremic manifestations is associated with improved survival, whether there is benefit to even earlier initiation of therapy is uncertain. ⋯ Several studies have suggested that more intensive delivery of CRRT during AKI is associated with improved survival, although results of trials have been inconsistent. Two large multicenter randomized clinical trials addressing this question are currently underway and should provide more definitive data within the next two years.