Critical care : the official journal of the Critical Care Forum
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Drotecogin alfa (activated; DrotAA) was approved in 2001 by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of patients with severe sepsis who are at high risk for death. The European Agency for the Evaluation of Medical Products also recommended that DrotAA could be administered to patients with severe sepsis and multiple organ dysfunction when added to the best standard care. Following the initial publication of the PROWESS (Protein C Worldwide Evaluation in Severe Sepsis) findings, multiple subgroup analyses supported the need for additional studies to explore the various hypotheses raised by this study. This review discusses all large clinical trials exploring the efficacy and safety of DrotAA and proposes recommendations for the use of DrotAA in severe sepsis.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Comparison of cooling methods to induce and maintain normo- and hypothermia in intensive care unit patients: a prospective intervention study.
Temperature management is used with increased frequency as a tool to mitigate neurological injury. Although frequently used, little is known about the optimal cooling methods for inducing and maintaining controlled normo- and hypothermia in the intensive care unit (ICU). In this study we compared the efficacy of several commercially available cooling devices for temperature management in ICU patients with various types of neurological injury. ⋯ Cooling with water-circulating blankets, gel-pads and intravascular cooling is more efficient compared to conventional cooling and air-circulating blankets. The intravascular cooling system is most reliable to maintain a stable temperature.
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Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a frequent complication of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). The lack of early biomarkers has impaired our ability to intervene in a timely manner. We previously showed in a small cohort of patients that plasma neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), measured using a research enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, is an early predictive biomarker of AKI after CPB. In this study we tested whether a point-of-care NGAL device can predict AKI after CPB in a larger cohort. ⋯ Accurate measurements of plasma NGAL are obtained using the point-of-care Triage(R) NGAL device. Plasma NGAL is an early predictive biomarker of AKI, morbidity, and mortality after pediatric CPB.
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In 2006, paediatric intensive care-related subjects were discussed in a number of papers published in various journals, including Critical Care. Because they focused on the cardiovascular system and its support, we summarize them here. In particular, these papers highlighted the management of refractory septic shock, extracorporeal support, outcome markers in sepsis, and outcome after cardiac arrest.
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The present article summarises and places in context original research articles from the respirology section published in Critical Care in 2006. Twenty papers were identified and were grouped by topic into those addressing acute lung injury and ventilator-induced lung injury, those examining high-frequency oscillation, those studying pulmonary physiology and mechanics, those assessing tracheostomy, and those exploring other topics.