Critical care : the official journal of the Critical Care Forum
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Circulating cell-free DNA (cf-DNA) mainly comes from apoptotic cells and can reflect the extent of cellular damage. Increased plasma levels of cf-DNA have been found in many acute disorders, including septic and clinically ill patients, and usually correlate well with clinical outcome. ⋯ They report that plasma cf-DNA was higher than normal in patients with mechanical ventilation, and even higher in patients who eventually died compared to survivors. However, its usefulness as a death predictor may be limited in the heterogeneous group of mechanically ventilated patients, probably due to confounding effects of co-morbidities, among other factors.
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Prevalent in critically ill patients, delirium remains poorly understood and difficult to treat. In a cross-sectional study conducted in 12 countries, delirium was identified in close to one third of patients and was independently associated with increased mortality. While such epidemiological accounts represent an important cornerstone for research, scientific efforts are needed to elucidate the causes of delirium and the mechanisms underlying its association with poor outcomes.
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The aim of this study, performed in an intensive care unit (ICU) population with a normal serum creatinine, was to estimate urinary creatinine clearance (CLCR) in a population of polytrauma patients (PT) through a comparison with a population of non trauma patients (NPT). ⋯ In ICU patients with normal serum creatinine, CLCR, is higher in PT than in NPT. The measure of CLCR should be proposed as routine for PT patients in order to adjust dose regimen, especially for drugs with renal elimination.
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Increasing evidence suggests that the secondary phase of sepsis (that is, after the first proinflammatory hours) is characterized by the occurrence of a systemic failure of the immune system. In the most immunodepressed patients, therapies could be used to restore normal immune functions. ⋯ Of these biomarkers, diminished monocyte HLA-DR expression has rapidly become the most popular. Herein, novel perspectives regarding monocyte HLA-DR assessed as a dynamic parameter in septic patients will be discussed in the context of a recently published study investigating daily evolution of monocyte HLA-DR with regard to 28 day-mortality after severe sepsis.
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Low tidal volume (VT 6 ml/predicted body weight) pressure limited (plateau pressure <30 cmH2O) protective ventilation as proposed by the ARDS Network was associated with an improvement in mortality and is considered the gold standard for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) ventilation strategies. Limiting plateau pressure minimizes ventilator-induced lung injury by reducing the trans-pulmonary pressure, which is the real alveolar distending pressure. ⋯ Moreover, low tidal volume to keep plateau pressure <30 cmH2O could be associated with large differences compared to measured total lung capacity. Quantitative bedside techniques that are able to measure lung volumes together with trans-pulmonary pressure could expand our chances to tailor mechanical ventilation in ARDS patients.