Critical care : the official journal of the Critical Care Forum
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Comparative Study
Prognostic value of continuous EEG monitoring during therapeutic hypothermia after cardiac arrest.
Continuous EEG (cEEG) is increasingly used to monitor brain function in neuro-ICU patients. However, its value in patients with coma after cardiac arrest (CA), particularly in the setting of therapeutic hypothermia (TH), is only beginning to be elucidated. The aim of this study was to examine whether cEEG performed during TH may predict outcome. ⋯ Continuous EEG monitoring showing a nonreactive or discontinuous background during TH is strongly associated with unfavorable outcome in patients with coma after CA. These data warrant larger studies to confirm the value of continuous EEG monitoring in predicting prognosis after CA and TH.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Goal-directed intraoperative therapy based on autocalibrated arterial pressure waveform analysis reduces hospital stay in high-risk surgical patients: a randomized, controlled trial.
Several studies have shown that goal-directed hemodynamic and fluid optimization may result in improved outcome. However, the methods used were either invasive or had other limitations. The aim of this study was to perform intraoperative goal-directed therapy with a minimally invasive, easy to use device (FloTrac/Vigileo), and to evaluate possible improvements in patient outcome determined by the duration of hospital stay and the incidence of complications compared to a standard management protocol. ⋯ In high-risk patients undergoing major abdominal surgery, implementation of an intraoperative goal-directed hemodynamic optimization protocol using the FloTrac/Vigileo device was associated with a reduced length of hospital stay and a lower incidence of complications compared to a standard management protocol.
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Comment Review
Estimation of dead space fraction can be simplified in the acute respiratory distress syndrome.
Acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome are characterized by a non-cardiogenic pulmonary edema responsible for a significant impairment of gas exchange. The pulmonary dead space increase, which is due primarily to an alteration in pulmonary blood flow distribution, is largely responsible for carbon dioxide retention. Previous studies, computing the pulmonary dead space by measuring the expired carbon dioxide and the Enghoff equation, found that the dead space fraction was significantly higher in the non-survivors; it was even an independent risk of death. The computation of the dead space not by measuring the expired carbon dioxide but by applying a rearranged alveolar gas equation that takes into account only the weight, age, height, and temperature of the patient could lead to widespread clinical diffusion of this measurement at the bedside.
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Multicenter Study
Relative hyperlactatemia and hospital mortality in critically ill patients: a retrospective multi-centre study.
Higher lactate concentrations within the normal reference range (relative hyperlactatemia) are not considered clinically significant. We tested the hypothesis that relative hyperlactatemia is independently associated with an increased risk of hospital death. ⋯ In critically ill patients, relative hyperlactataemia is independently associated with increased hospital mortality. Blood lactate concentrations > 0.75 mmol.L-1 can be used by clinicians to identify patients at higher risk of death. The current reference range for lactate in the critically ill may need to be re-assessed.
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Comparative Study
Cross-comparison of cardiac output trending accuracy of LiDCO, PiCCO, FloTrac and pulmonary artery catheters.
Although less invasive than pulmonary artery catheters (PACs), arterial pulse pressure analysis techniques for estimating cardiac output (CO) have not been simultaneously compared to PAC bolus thermodilution CO (COtd) or continuous CO (CCO) devices. ⋯ Although PAC (COTD/CCO), FloTrac, LiDCO and PiCCO display similar mean CO values, they often trend differently in response to therapy and show different interdevice agreement. In the clinically relevant low CO range (< 5 L/min), agreement improved slightly. Thus, utility and validation studies using only one CO device may potentially not be extrapolated to equivalency of using another similar device.