Intensive care medicine
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Intensive care medicine · May 2004
Editorial Comment ReviewVariation in intensive care unit outcomes by day of week: no weak-end.
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Intensive care medicine · May 2004
Editorial Comment ReviewCerebral arterial gas embolism: should we hyperventilate these patients?
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Intensive care medicine · May 2004
Characteristics and outcomes of HIV-infected patients in the ICU: impact of the highly active antiretroviral treatment era.
To examine whether the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has changed the rate of admission, the clinical spectrum, and the mortality of HIV-infected ICU patients. ⋯ The number of HIV-infected patients admitted to the ICU remained high in the HAART era. Underutilization of HAART and limited access to health care are possible explanations. The ICU mortality has remained unchanged, but 3-month mortality has decreased.
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Intensive care medicine · May 2004
Ventilation with biphasic positive airway pressure in experimental lung injury. Influence of transpulmonary pressure on gas exchange and haemodynamics.
We investigated whether improvement in ventilation perfusion (.V(A)/.Q) distribution during mechanical ventilation using biphasic positive airway pressure (BIPAP) with spontaneous breathing may be attributed to an effectively increased transpulmonary pressure (P(TP)) and can also be achieved by increasing P(TP) during controlled ventilation. ⋯ In experimental lung injury, BIPAP with preserved spontaneous breathing was effective in increasing regional P(TP), since pressure-controlled ventilation with the same P(TP) resulted in similar gas exchange effects. However, PCV(TP) caused increased airway pressures and tidal volumes, whereby, with BIPAP, less depression of oxygen delivery and cardiac output were observed. BIPAP could be useful in maintaining pulmonary gas exchange and slightly improving oxygenation without interfering with circulation as strongly as PCV does.