Neurocritical care
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Review Meta Analysis
Evidence for Mannitol as an Effective Agent Against Intracranial Hypertension: An Individual Patient Data Meta-analysis.
Mannitol is currently used to reduce intracranial pressure (ICP), but the evidence supporting its usefulness has been questioned. We aim to meta-analyze the effectiveness of mannitol in reducing ICP in adult patients with cerebral injuries and its dependency on baseline ICP values, comparing findings from individual patient data (IPD) and aggregated data (AD) meta-analysis performed on the same studies. We searched the Medline database, with no time limitation, through March 1, 2019. ⋯ The AD meta-analysis, based on data collected between 30 and 60 min from mannitol administration not accounting for multiple time-point measurements, overestimated ICP reduction (10 mmHg), while meta-regression provided similar results (0.66 mmHg decrease for each unitary increase of initial ICP). Mannitol is effective in reducing pathological ICP, proportionally to the degree of intracranial hypertension. IPD meta-analysis provided a more precise quantification of ICP variation than the AD approach.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
White Matter Hyperintensities and Blood Pressure Lowering in Acute Intracerebral Hemorrhage: A Secondary Analysis of the ATACH-2 Trial.
It is not clear whether subsets of patients with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) benefit from intensive blood pressure (BP) lowering. We evaluated whether white matter hyperintensities (WMH) burden influences response to this therapy. ⋯ The majority of acute ICH patients have moderate-severe WMH, but advanced small vessel disease burden marked by WMH does not influence ICH-related outcomes or response to intensive BP reduction.
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Drug shortages have become all too familiar in the health care environment, with over 200 drugs currently on shortage. In the wake of Hurricane Maria in September 2017, hospitals across the USA had to quickly and creatively adjust medication preparation and administration techniques in light of decreased availability of intravenous (IV) bags used for compounding a vast amount of medications. Amino acid preparations, essential for compounding parenteral nutrition, were also directly impacted by the hurricane. ⋯ Drug shortages also frequently occur in the setting of manufacturing delays or discontinuation and drug recalls, with potential to negatively impact patient care. The seriousness of the drug shortage crisis reached public attention by December 2017, when political and pharmacy organizations called for response to the national drug shortage crisis. In this article, we review institutional mitigation strategies in response to drug shortages and discuss downstream effects of these shortages, focusing on medications commonly prescribed in neurocritical care patients.
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The International Conference on Spreading Depolarizations (iCSD) held in Boca Raton, Florida, in the September of 2018 devoted a section to address the question, "What should a clinician do when spreading depolarizations are observed in a patient?" Discussants represented a wide range of expertise, including neurologists, neurointensivists, neuroradiologists, neurosurgeons, and pre-clinical neuroscientists, to provide both clinical and basic pathophysiology perspectives. A draft summary of viewpoints offered was then written by a multidisciplinary writing group of iCSD members, based on a transcript of the session. Feedback of all discussants was formally collated, reviewed, and incorporated into the final document which was subsequently approved by all authors.