Saudi Med J
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The primary objectives were to evaluate the current usage of anti-microbial agents in the Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU) of Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) in Doha, State of Qatar and to correlate this with: a) the infectious disease pattern, b) the isolated microorganisms and their sensitivity pattern, and, importantly, c) the patient's clinical outcome. A secondary objective was to evaluate the influence of the use of steroid therapy on the development of fungal infections. ⋯ This study highlights the urgent need for updated empiric and treatment guidelines as well as the monitoring of the antibiotic usage.
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Within soft-tissue sarcoma, primitive neuroectodermal tumors have been shown to cover a wide spectrum of small round cell sarcomas, including Ewing's sarcomas (ES) and primitive neuroectodermal tumors (PNET). The role of the stem cell factor/kit pathway has been investigated in different human tumors especially in chronic myelocytic leukemia and gastrointestinal stromal tumor and an autocrine loop has been assumed in small cell lung carcinoma, and recently in ES and PNET. Our aim is to investigate the c-kit expression in ES and PNET and also to assessed if c-kit has any role in disease process. ⋯ We suggest that therapy with tyrosine kinase inhibitor for PNET and ES patients may be an alternative in addition to standard therapy modalities, especially in patients non-responsive to standard therapy.
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Under normal physiological conditions, glutamine is synthesized in large amounts by the human body and is considered nonessential. It has been hypothesized that glutamine may become a conditionally essential amino acid in patients with catabolic disease. The objective of this study is to investigate the prognostic effect of glutamine. ⋯ Glutamine may decrease the catabolism. It may also have a positive effect on treatment time and the consequences of therapy in critically ill patients.
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The purpose of this study is to review the postoperative intensive care unit (ICU) course, complications and outcome of Down's syndrome children undergoing surgical repair of congenital heart diseases (CHD). ⋯ Patients with Down's syndrome undergoing CHD repair had an acceptable postoperative morbidity and low mortality. Their results are comparable to non-Down's cardiac patients. From an ICU perspective, the majority of these patients do well postoperatively with good ICU outcome.