Journal of intensive care
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Journal of intensive care · Jan 2015
Eosinophil count at intensive care unit admission was not predictor of hospital mortality: results of a case control study.
Predicting mortality in the intensive care unit (ICU) is one of the biggest challenges in critical care medicine. Several studies have linked the presence of eosinopenia with adverse outcomes in different populations. ⋯ In our study, eosinophil count at ICU admission was not associated with increased hospital mortality. The larger increase in number of eosinophils observed during the first week of ICU stay in surviving patients deserves to be investigated further.
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Journal of intensive care · Jan 2015
Effectiveness of lower target temperature therapeutic hypothermia in post-cardiac arrest syndrome patients with a resuscitation interval of ≤30 min.
Therapeutic hypothermia (TH) is a standard strategy to reduce brain damage in post-cardiac arrest syndrome (PCAS) patients. However, it is unknown whether the target temperature should be adjusted for PCAS patients in different states. ⋯ PCAS patients with a resuscitation interval of <30 min may be candidates for TH with a target temperature of <34 °C.
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Journal of intensive care · Jan 2015
Effects of prehospital epinephrine administration on neurological outcomes in patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.
To determine if the effects of epinephrine administration on the outcome of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA), patients are associated with the duration of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) performed by Emergency Medical Service (EMS) personnel. ⋯ Epinephrine administration is associated with an increase of ROSC and with improvement in the neurological outcome on which EMSs' CPR duration is performed between 15 and 19 min.
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Journal of intensive care · Jan 2015
An observational study of the association between microalbuminuria and increased N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide in patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage.
The urinary albumin/creatinine ratio (ACR) is a significant neurologic prognostic predictor in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) plays an important role in body fluid regulation in patients with SAH. The present study was performed to determine whether ACR was independent predictor for unfavorable neurological outcome and ACR was associated with increased N-terminal pro-BNP (NT-pro-BNP) after SAH. ⋯ The highest ACR is an independent prognostic predictor of unfavorable neurological outcomes after SAH. Moreover, plasma NT-pro-BNP elevation may be associated with the development of microalbuminuria.
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Journal of intensive care · Jan 2014
ReviewRole of prothrombin complex concentrate in perioperative coagulation therapy.
Prothrombin complex concentrate (PCC) is a term to describe pharmacological products that contain lyophilized, human plasma-derived vitamin K-dependent factors (F), FII, FVII, FIX, FX, and various amounts of proteins C and S. PCCs can be rapidly reconstituted in a small volume (20 ml for about 500 international units (IU)) at bedside and administered regardless of the patient's blood type. PCCs are categorized as 4-factor PCC if they contain therapeutic amounts of FVII, and 3-factor PCC when FVII content is low. ⋯ There is also an ongoing controversy about plasma transfusion and its potential hazards including transfusion-related lung injury (TRALI). Early fixed ratio plasma transfusion has been implemented in many trauma centers in the USA, whereas fibrinogen concentrate and PCC are preferred over plasma transfusion in some European centers. In this review, the rationales for including PCCs in the perioperative hemostatic management will be discussed in conjunction with plasma transfusion.