Anesthesiology
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It has been suggested that predicting difficult tracheal intubation is useless because of the poor predictive capacity of individual signs and scores. The authors tested the hypothesis that an accurate prediction of difficult tracheal intubation using simple clinical signs is possible using a computer-assist model. ⋯ Computer-assisted models using complex interaction between variables enable an accurate prediction of difficult tracheal intubation with a low proportion of patients in the inconclusive zone. An external validation of the model is now required.
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Multicenter Study Clinical Trial
Can changes in arterial pressure be used to detect changes in cardiac output during volume expansion in the perioperative period?
Cardiac output (CO) is rarely monitored during surgery, and arterial pressure remains the only hemodynamic parameter for assessing the effects of volume expansion (VE). However, whether VE-induced changes in arterial pressure accurately reflect changes in CO has not been demonstrated. The authors studied the ability of VE-induced changes in arterial pressure and in pulse pressure variation to detect changes in CO induced by VE in the perioperative period. ⋯ Only changes in pulse pressure variation accurately detect VE-induced changes in CO and have a potential clinical applicability.
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Multicenter Study
Assessment of white matter injury and outcome in severe brain trauma: a prospective multicenter cohort.
Existing methods to predict recovery after severe traumatic brain injury lack accuracy. The aim of this study is to determine the prognostic value of quantitative diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). ⋯ White matter assessment with quantitative DTI increases the accuracy of long-term outcome prediction compared with the available clinical/radiographic prognostic score.
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Multicenter Study
Diffusion tensor imaging to predict long-term outcome after cardiac arrest: a bicentric pilot study.
Prognostication in comatose survivors of cardiac arrest is a major clinical challenge. The authors' objective was to determine whether an assessment with diffusion tensor imaging, a brain magnetic resonance imaging sequence, increases the accuracy of 1 yr functional outcome prediction in cardiac arrest survivors. ⋯ Quantitative diffusion tensor imaging indicates that white matter damage is widespread after cardiac arrest. A prognostic model based on FA values in selected white matter tracts seems to predict accurately 1 yr functional outcome. These preliminary results need to be confirmed in a larger population.