Articles: function.
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · Jan 2014
Clinical TrialLong-Term Facilitation of Ventilation in Humans with Chronic Spinal Cord Injury.
Intermittent stimulation of the respiratory system with hypoxia causes persistent increases in respiratory motor output (i.e., long-term facilitation) in animals with spinal cord injury. This paradigm, therefore, has been touted as a potential respiratory rehabilitation strategy. ⋯ Ventilatory long-term facilitation can be evoked by brief periods of hypoxia in humans with chronic spinal cord injury. Thus, intermittent hypoxia may represent a strategy for inducing respiratory neuroplasticity after declines in respiratory function that are related to neurological impairment. Clinical trial registered with www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT01272011).
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Observational Study
Construct validity of the Chelsea critical care physical assessment tool: an observational study of recovery from critical illness.
Intensive care unit-acquired weakness (ICU-AW) is common in survivors of critical illness, resulting in global weakness and functional deficit. Although ICU-AW is well described subjectively in the literature, the value of objective measures has yet to be established. This project aimed to evaluate the construct validity of the Chelsea Critical Care Physical Assessment tool (CPAx) by analyzing the association between CPAx scores and hospital-discharge location, as a measure of functional outcome. ⋯ The CPAx score at ICU discharge has displayed construct validity by crudely discriminating between groups with different functional needs at hospital discharge. The CPAx has a limited floor and ceiling effect in survivors of critical illness. A significant proportion of patients had a requirement for postdischarge care and rehabilitation.
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Elevated brain potassium levels ([K+]) are associated with neuronal damage in experimental models. The role of brain extracellular [K+] in patients with poor-grade aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) and its association with hemorrhage load, metabolic dysfunction and outcome has not been studied so far. ⋯ The results of this pilot study suggest that brain extracellular [K+] may serve as a biomarker for brain tissue injury in poor-grade aSAH patients. Further studies are needed to elucidate the relevance of brain interstitial K+ levels in the pathophysiology of secondary brain injury after aSAH.
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Mechanical ventilation is a life-saving intervention for patients with respiratory failure or during deep sedation. During continuous mandatory ventilation the diaphragm remains inactive, which activates pathophysiological cascades leading to a loss of contractile force and muscle mass (collectively referred to as ventilator-induced diaphragm dysfunction, VIDD). In contrast to peripheral skeletal muscles this process is rapid and develops after as little as 12 h and has a profound influence on weaning patients from mechanical ventilation as well as increased incidences of morbidity and mortality. ⋯ Levosimendan has also been proven to increase diaphragm contractile forces in humans which may prove to be helpful for patients experiencing difficult weaning. Additionally, antioxidant drugs that scavenge reactive oxygen species have been demonstrated to protect the diaphragm from VIDD in several animal studies. The translation of these drugs into the IUC setting might protect patients from VIDD and facilitate the weaning process.
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Sepsis is still a leading cause of morbidity and mortality, even in modern times, and thrombocytopenia has been closely associated with unfavorable disease outcome. Decreases in mitochondrial membrane potential (depolarization) were found in different tissues during sepsis. Previous work suggests that mitochondrial dysfunction of platelets correlates with clinical disease activity in sepsis. However, platelet mitochondrial membrane potential (Mmp) has not been investigated in a clinical follow-up design and not with regard to disease outcome. ⋯ In this study, we demonstrated that mitochondrial membrane depolarization in platelets correlates with clinical disease severity in patients with sepsis during the disease course and may be a valuable adjunct parameter to aid in the assessment of disease severity, risk stratification, and clinical outcome.