Critical care : the official journal of the Critical Care Forum
-
Brain or lung injury or both are frequent causes of admission to intensive care units and are associated with high morbidity and mortality rates. Mechanical ventilation, which is commonly used in the management of these critically ill patients, can induce an inflammatory response, which may be involved in distal organ failure. Thus, there may be a complex crosstalk between the lungs and other organs, including the brain. ⋯ Such neurologic dysfunction might be a secondary marker of injury and the neuroanatomical substrate for downstream impairment of other organs. Brainlung interactions have received little attention in the literature, but recent evidence suggests that both the lungs and brain can promote inflammation through common mediators. The present commentary discusses the main physiological issues related to brain-lung interactions.
-
Multicenter Study
Respiratory pulse pressure variation fails to predict fluid responsiveness in acute respiratory distress syndrome.
Fluid responsiveness prediction is of utmost interest during acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), but the performance of respiratory pulse pressure variation (ΔRESPPP) has scarcely been reported. In patients with ARDS, the pathophysiology of ΔRESPPP may differ from that of healthy lungs because of low tidal volume (Vt), high respiratory rate, decreased lung and sometimes chest wall compliance, which increase alveolar and/or pleural pressure. We aimed to assess ΔRESPPP in a large ARDS population. ⋯ During protective mechanical ventilation for early ARDS, partly because of insufficient changes in pleural pressure, ΔRESPPP performance was poor. Careful fluid challenges may be a safe alternative.
-
Unplanned extubation (UE) is a frequent event during mechanical ventilation in critically ill patients and might be associated with increased morbidity and mortality. However, detailed knowledge of risk factors and outcomes after UE is lacking. ⋯ The present study shows that the first and second categories of the Ramsay Sedation Scale were associated with a high risk for an UE. Also, male sex and use of midazolam at time of UE were identified as risk factors for an UE. However, compared with mechanically ventilated controls, no increased mortality was shown for UE patients. In UE patients without the need for subsequent reintubation, mortality was very low.
-
Dysphagia is common among survivors of critical illness who required mechanical ventilation during treatment. The risk factors associated with the development of postextubation dysphagia, and the effects of dysphagia on patient outcomes, have been relatively unexplored. ⋯ In a large cohort of critically ill patients, long duration of mechanical ventilation was independently associated with postextubation dysphagia, and the development of postextubation dysphagia was independently associated with poor patient outcomes.
-
Airway dysfunction in patients with the Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) is evidenced by expiratory flow limitation and dynamic hyperinflation. These functional alterations have been attributed to closure/obstruction of small airways. Airway morphological changes have been reported in experimental models of acute lung injury, characterized by epithelial necrosis and denudation in distal airways. To date, however, no study has focused on the morphological airway changes in lungs from human subjects with ARDS. The aim of this study is to evaluate structural and inflammatory changes in distal airways in ARDS patients. ⋯ Structural changes in small airways of patients with ARDS were characterized by epithelial denudation, inflammation and airway wall thickening with ECM remodeling. These changes are likely to contribute to functional airway changes in patients with ARDS.