Critical care : the official journal of the Critical Care Forum
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Observational Study
Biofilm formation on three different endotracheal tubes: a prospective clinical trial.
Biofilm formation on endotracheal tubes (ETTs) is an early and frequent event in mechanically ventilated patients. The biofilm is believed to act as a reservoir for infecting microorganisms and thereby contribute to development and relapses of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). Once a biofilm has formed on an ETT surface, it is difficult to eradicate. This clinical study aimed to compare biofilm formation on three widely used ETTs with different surface properties and to explore factors potentially predictive of biofilm formation. ⋯ High-grade biofilm formation on ETTs was associated with development of VAP. Compared to the uncoated PVC ETTs, the silicone-coated and noble-metal-coated PVC ETTs were independently associated with reduced high-grade biofilm formation. Further research on methods to prevent, monitor, and manage biofilm occurrence is needed.
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Neuroinflammation often develops in sepsis along with increasing permeability of the blood-brain barrier (BBB), which leads to septic encephalopathy. The barrier is formed by tight junction structures between the cerebral endothelial cells. We investigated the expression of tight junction proteins related to endothelial permeability in brain autopsy specimens in critically ill patients deceased with sepsis and analyzed the relationship of BBB damage with measures of systemic inflammation and systemic organ dysfunction. ⋯ In fatal sepsis, damaged BBB defined as a loss of cerebral endothelial expression of occludin is related with severe organ dysfunction and systemic inflammation.
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Platelets have been demonstrated to be potent activators of neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) formation during sepsis. However, the mediators and molecular pathways involved in human platelet-mediated NET generation remain poorly defined. Circulating plasma exosomes mostly originating from platelets may induce vascular apoptosis and myocardial dysfunction during sepsis; however, their role in NET formation remains unclear. This study aimed to detect whether platelet-derived exosomes could promote NET formation during septic shock and determine the potential mechanisms involved. ⋯ Platelet-derived exosomes promote excessive NET formation in sepsis and subsequent organ injury. This finding suggests a previously unidentified role of platelet-derived exosomes in sepsis and may lead to new therapeutic approaches.
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Observational Study
Usefulness of point-of-care multiplex PCR to rapidly identify pathogens responsible for ventilator-associated pneumonia and their resistance to antibiotics: an observational study.
The use of multiplex PCR to shorten time to identification of pathogens and their resistance mechanisms for patients with ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is attractive, but poorly studied. The multiplex PCR-based Unyvero pneumonia cartridge assay can directly identify 20 bacteria and one fungus, amongst the most frequently causing VAP, and 19 of their resistance markers in clinical specimens (bronchoalveolar lavage or tracheal aspirate), with a turnaround time of 4-5 h. We performed this study to evaluate the concordance between the multiplex PCR-based Unyvero pneumonia cartridge assay and conventional microbiological techniques to identify pathogens and their resistance mechanisms in patients with VAP. ⋯ Compared to conventional microbiological cultures, the Unyvero pneumonia cartridge had poor diagnostic performance: it correctly identified pathogens and their resistance mechanisms in 73% and 67% of VAP cases, respectively. The lack of performance on the resistance mechanism was more pronounced when the pathogen detected was a Pseudomonas aeruginosa.