Critical care : the official journal of the Critical Care Forum
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Acute renal failure (ARF) is common among hospitalized HIV-infected patients. To our knowledge, however, data regarding ARF in HIV-infected patients in the intensive care unit are still lacking.
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Editorial Comment
Selenium supplementation in critically ill patients: can too much of a good thing be a bad thing?
A recent study by Forceville and colleagues evaluated the effect of high-dose selenium administration as a treatment for septic shock. The study was negative and conflicts with existing clinical data regarding selenium administration in critically ill patients. Perhaps the key to understanding the differences between these discrepant observations lies in considering the dose and timing of selenium administration.
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Review Meta Analysis Comparative Study
Surfactant therapy for acute respiratory failure in children: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Exogenous surfactant is used to treat acute respiratory failure in children, although the benefits and harms in this setting are not clear. The objective of the present systematic review is to assess the effect of exogenous pulmonary surfactant on all-cause mortality in children mechanically ventilated for acute respiratory failure. ⋯ Surfactant use decreased mortality, was associated with more ventilator-free days and reduced the duration of ventilation. No serious adverse events were reported.
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Cytokine profiles as markers of disease severity in sepsis: a multiplex analysis.
The current shortage of accurate and readily available, validated biomarkers of disease severity in sepsis is an important limitation when attempting to stratify patients into homogeneous groups, in order to study pathogenesis or develop therapeutic interventions. The aim of the present study was to determine the cytokine profile in plasma of patients with severe sepsis by using a multiplex system for simultaneous detection of 17 cytokines. ⋯ In this exploratory analysis we demonstrated that use of a multiple cytokine assay platform allowed identification of distinct cytokine profiles associated with sepsis severity, evolution of organ failure and death.