Critical care : the official journal of the Critical Care Forum
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Review
Diagnosis and management of invasive candidiasis in the ICU: an updated approach to an old enemy.
Invasive fungal infections, particularly those caused by Candida species, are not uncommon in critically ill patients and are associated with considerable morbidity and mortality. Diagnosis and management of these infections can be challenging. In this review, we will briefly discuss recent epidemiological data on invasive candidiasis and current diagnostic approaches before concentrating on antifungal treatments.
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Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a prominent problem in hospitalized patients and associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Clinical medicine is currently hampered by the lack of accurate and early biomarkers for diagnosis of AKI and the evaluation of the severity of the disease. In 2010, we established a multivariate peptide marker pattern consisting of 20 naturally occurring urinary peptides to screen patients for early signs of renal failure. The current study now aims to evaluate if, in a different study population and potentially various AKI causes, AKI can be detected early and accurately by proteome analysis. ⋯ This study gives further proof for the general applicability of our proteomic multimarker model for early and accurate prediction of AKI irrespective of its underlying disease cause.
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Altered plasma levels of protein C, thrombomodulin, and the endothelial protein C receptor are associated with poor clinical outcomes in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). We hypothesized that common variants in these genes would be associated with mortality as well as ventilator-free and organ failure-free days in patients with ARDS. ⋯ Genetic variants in thrombomodulin and endothelial protein C receptor genes are additively associated with mortality in ARDS. These findings suggest that genetic differences may be at least partially responsible for the observed associations between dysregulated coagulation and poor outcomes in ARDS.
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Severe critical illness is often complicated by intensive care unit-acquired weakness (ICU-AW), which is associated with increased ICU and post-ICU mortality, delayed weaning from mechanical ventilation and long-term functional disability. Several mechanisms have been implicated in the pathophysiology of ICU-AW, but muscle regeneration has not been investigated to any extent in this context, even though its involvement is suggested by the protracted functional consequences of ICU-AW. Recent data suggest that muscle regeneration could be impaired after sepsis, and that mesenchymal stem cell treatment could improve the post-injury muscle recovery.