Critical care : the official journal of the Critical Care Forum
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Multicenter Study
A positive fluid balance is associated with a worse outcome in patients with acute renal failure.
Despite significant improvements in intensive care medicine, the prognosis of acute renal failure (ARF) remains poor, with mortality ranging from 40% to 65%. The aim of the present observational study was to analyze the influence of patient characteristics and fluid balance on the outcome of ARF in intensive care unit (ICU) patients. ⋯ In this large European multicenter study, a positive fluid balance was an important factor associated with increased 60-day mortality. Outcome among patients treated with RRT was better when RRT was started early in the course of the ICU stay.
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Mortality in patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) who require intubation or support with inotropes in an intensive care unit setting remains extremely high (up to 50%). Systematic use of objective severity-of-illness criteria, such as the Pneumonia Severity Index (PSI), British Thoracic Society CURB-65 (an acronym meaning Confusion, Urea, Respiratory rate, Blood pressure, age >/=65 years), or criteria developed by the Infectious Diseases Society of America/American Thoracic Society, to aid site-of-care decisions for pneumonia patients is emerging as a step forward in patient management. Experience with the Predisposition, Infection, Response, and Organ dysfunction (PIRO) score, which incorporates key signs and symptoms of sepsis and important CAP risk factors, may represent an improvement in staging severe CAP. In addition, it has been suggested that implementing a simple care bundle in the emergency department will improve management of CAP, using five evidence-based variables, with immediate pulse oxymetry and oxygen assessment as the cornerstone and initial step of treatment.
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Comparative Study
Use of T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging of the optic nerve sheath to detect raised intracranial pressure.
The dural sheath surrounding the optic nerve communicates with the subarachnoid space, and distends when intracranial pressure is elevated. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is often performed in patients at risk for raised intracranial pressure (ICP) and can be used to measure precisely the diameter of optic nerve and its sheath. The objective of this study was to assess the relationship between optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD), as measured using MRI, and ICP. ⋯ When brain MRI is indicated, ONSD measurement on images obtained using routine sequences can provide a quantitative estimate of the likelihood of significant intracranial hypertension.
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Mechanical ventilation is the defining event of intensive care unit (ICU) management. Although it is a life saving intervention in patients with acute respiratory failure and other disease entities, a major goal of critical care clinicians should be to liberate patients from mechanical ventilation as early as possible to avoid the multitude of complications and risks associated with prolonged unnecessary mechanical ventilation, including ventilator induced lung injury, ventilator associated pneumonia, increased length of ICU and hospital stay, and increased cost of care delivery. This review highlights the recent developments in assessing and testing for readiness of liberation from mechanical ventilation, the etiology of weaning failure, the value of weaning protocols, and a simple practical approach for liberation from mechanical ventilation.
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We summarize original research in the field of critical care nephrology that was accepted for publication or published in 2007 in Critical Care and, when considered relevant or directly linked to this research, in other journals. Four main topics were identified for a brief overview. ⋯ The third area selected for review is outcomes of acute kidney injury during the past 10 years, described by a recent Australian epidemiological study. Finally, specific technical features of renal replacement therapies were examined in 2007, specifically regarding anticoagulation and vascular access.