Critical care : the official journal of the Critical Care Forum
-
In view of the mortality associated with Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PSA) ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) and the frequency of inadequate initial empiric therapy, recent findings underscore the need for a different management paradigm with effective anti-pseudomonal vaccines for prophylaxis of patients at risk. The association of virulence factors is a variable that splits PSA in two phenotypes, with the possibility of adjunctive immunomodulatory therapy for management of virulent strains. We comment on recent advances in and the state of the art of PSA-VAP management and discuss a new paradigm for tailored and optimal management.
-
For patients presenting with acute brain injury (such as traumatic brain injury, subarachnoid haemorrhage and stroke), the diagnosis and identification of intracerebral lesions and evaluation of the severity, prognosis and treatment efficacy can be challenging. The complexity and heterogeneity of lesions after brain injury are most probably responsible for this difficulty. Patients with apparently comparable brain lesions on imaging may have different neurological outcomes or responses to therapy. ⋯ For subarachnoid haemorrhage, particular interest has been focused on the biomarkers used to predict vasospasm and cerebral ischaemia. The efficacy of biomarkers in predicting the severity and outcome of traumatic brain injury has been stressed. The very early diagnostic performance of biomarkers and their ability to discriminate ischaemic from haemorrhagic stroke were studied.
-
The newly emerging human pathogen influenza A H7N9 represents a potentially major threat to human health. The virus was first shown to be pathogenic in humans in 2013, and outbreaks continue to occur in China to the present time. ⋯ In the absence of an effective vaccine, targeted regulation of the host immune response by immune modulators might be considered. Readily available, approved drugs with immune-modulating activities might prove to be a treatment option in combination with existing antiviral agents and supportive care.
-
Review
A systematic review of therapeutic hypothermia for adult patients following traumatic brain injury.
Research into therapeutic hypothermia following traumatic brain injury has been characterised by small trials of poor methodological quality, producing variable results. The Cochrane review, published in 2009, now requires updating. The aim of this systematic review is to assess the effectiveness of the application of therapeutic hypothermia to reduce death and disability when administered to adult patients who have been admitted to hospital following traumatic brain injury. ⋯ In contrast to previous reviews, this systematic review found some evidence to suggest that therapeutic hypothermia may be of benefit in the treatment of traumatic brain injury. The majority of trials were of low quality, with unclear allocation concealment. Low quality trials may overestimate the effectiveness of hypothermia treatment versus standard care. There remains a need for more, high quality, randomised control trials of therapeutic hypothermia after traumatic brain injury.