Intensive care medicine
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Intensive care medicine · Nov 2018
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative StudyTerlipressin versus norepinephrine as infusion in patients with septic shock: a multicentre, randomised, double-blinded trial.
Recent clinical data suggest that terlipressin, a vasopressin analogue, may be more beneficial in septic shock patients than catecholamines. However, terlipressin's effect on mortality is unknown. We set out to ascertain the efficacy and safety of continuous terlipressin infusion compared with norepinephrine (NE) in patients with septic shock. ⋯ In this multicentre, randomised, double-blinded trial, we observed no difference in mortality between terlipressin and NE infusion in patients with septic shock. Patients in the terlipressin group had a higher number of serious adverse events.
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Intensive care medicine · Nov 2018
Randomized Controlled TrialQuestions to improve family-staff communication in the ICU: a randomized controlled trial.
Relatives of intensive care unit (ICU) patients suffer emotional distress that impairs their ability to acquire the information they need from the staff. We sought to evaluate whether providing relatives with a list of important questions was associated with better comprehension on day 5. ⋯ Providing relatives with a list of questions did not improve day-5 comprehension, secondary endpoints, or information time. Further research is needed to help families obtain the information they need.
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Intensive care medicine · Nov 2018
Observational StudyPlasma angiopoietin-2 as a potential causal marker in sepsis-associated ARDS development: evidence from Mendelian randomization and mediation analysis.
A causal biomarker for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) could fuel precision therapy options. Plasma angiopoietin-2 (ANG2), a vascular permeability marker, is a strong candidate on the basis of experimental and observational evidence. We used genetic causal inference methods-Mendelian randomization and mediation-to infer potential effects of plasma ANG2. ⋯ In septic European ancestry subjects, the strongest ANG2-determining ANGPT2 genetic variant is associated with higher ARDS risk. Plasma ANG2 may be a causal factor in ARDS development. Strategies to reduce plasma ANG2 warrant testing to prevent or treat sepsis-associated ARDS.
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Intensive care medicine · Nov 2018
Healthcare-related costs in very elderly intensive care patients.
The long-term outcome of "very old intensive care unit patients" (VOPs; ≥ 80 years) is often disappointing. Little is known about the healthcare costs of these VOPs in comparison to younger ICU patients and the very elderly in the general population not admitted to the ICU. ⋯ VOPs required more healthcare resources in the year before, the year of and the year after ICU admission compared to younger ICU patients and the very elderly control population, except compared to the ICU 65-80 population in the year of ICU admission. Healthcare costs per day alive, however, are substantially higher for VOPs than for all other study groups in all three studied years.
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Intensive care medicine · Nov 2018
ReviewVitamin therapy in critically ill patients: focus on thiamine, vitamin C, and vitamin D.
Abstract