Journal of critical care
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Journal of critical care · Oct 2012
Decreased plasma gelsolin is associated with 1-year outcome in patients with traumatic brain injury.
Decreased plasma gelsolin level has been associated with 1-month mortality after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Thus, we investigated the ability of gelsolin to predict 1-year mortality and functional outcome in these patients. ⋯ Plasma gelsolin level is a useful, complementary tool to predict functional outcome and mortality 1 year after TBI.
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Journal of critical care · Oct 2012
Central line placement in patients with and without prophylactic plasma.
Central line placement (CLP) is a common life-saving intervention in critically ill patients, and patients with coagulation abnormalities as identified by an abnormal international normalized ratio (INR) may receive prophylactic plasma transfusion before the procedure despite previously published data that such a practice is not efficacious. Over a 14-month period, 287 CLPs were performed in the intensive care unit. ⋯ Only 1 case of bleeding was observed in a patient with an INR of 3.9, who received fresh frozen plasma preprocedure (0/73 vs 1/27; P = .6). The occurrence of bleeding was very low overall with CLP (0.3%; 95% confidence interval, 0%-2%), and no benefit of prophylactic plasma was observed.
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Journal of critical care · Oct 2012
Hypothermia attenuates the severity of oxidative stress development in asphyxiated newborns.
This retrospective case-control study aimed to examine the development of oxidative stress in asphyxiated infants delivered at more than 37 weeks of gestation. ⋯ This study demonstrated that hypothermia attenuated the development of systemic oxidative stress in asphyxiated newborns.
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Journal of critical care · Oct 2012
Portable miniaturized extracorporeal membrane oxygenation systems for H1N1-related severe acute respiratory distress syndrome: a case series.
Technological advances improved the practice of "modern" extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). In the present report, we describe the experience of a referral ECMO center using portable miniaturized ECMO systems for H1N1-related severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). ⋯ In our experience, ECMO support was a valuable therapeutic option for H1N1-related severe ARDS. The use of portable miniaturized systems allowed urgent rescue of patients from referring hospitals and safe interhospital and intrahospital transport during ECMO support.