Journal of critical care
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Journal of critical care · Oct 2014
Low serum creatine kinase activity is associated with worse outcome in critically ill patients.
To investigate the prognostic significance of low serum creatine kinase (CK) activity in intensive care unit patients. ⋯ Low serum CK activities are associated with a higher severity of illness and higher mortality rates.
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Journal of critical care · Oct 2014
A cross-sectional survey of critical care services in Sri Lanka: A lower middle-income country.
To describe the extent and variation of critical care services in Sri Lanka as a first step towards the development of a nationwide critical care unit (CCU) registry. ⋯ Sri Lanka, a lower middle-income country has an extensive network of critical care facilities but with inequalities in its distribution and facilities.
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Journal of critical care · Oct 2014
Observational StudyFactors affecting sleep in the critically ill: An observational study.
The aims of the current study were to describe the extrinsic and intrinsic factors affecting sleep in critically ill patients and to examine potential relationships with sleep quality. ⋯ The presence of an artificial airway during sleep monitoring was the only significant predictor in the regression model and may suggest that although potentially uncomfortable, an artificial airway may actually promote sleep. This requires further investigation.
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Journal of critical care · Oct 2014
Model for End-Stage Liver Disease score predicts mortality in critically ill cirrhotic patients.
Cirrhosis is a common condition that complicates the management of patients who require critical care. There is interest in identifying scoring systems that may be used to predict outcome because of the poor odds for recovery despite high-intensity care. We sought to evaluate how Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD), an organ-specific scoring system, compares with other severity of illness scoring systems in predicting short- and long-term mortality for critically ill cirrhotic patients. ⋯ Our results demonstrate that the prognostic ability of a variety of scoring systems strongly depends on the patient population. In the MICU population, each model (MELD + SOFA, MELD, and SOFA) demonstrates excellent discrimination for 28-day and 1-year mortality. However, these scoring systems did not predict 28-day mortality in the surgical ICU group but were significant for 1-year mortality. This suggests that patients admitted to a surgical ICU will behave similarly to their MICU cohort if they survive the perioperative period.
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Journal of critical care · Oct 2014
Observational StudyCorrected QT-interval prolongation and variability in intensive care patients.
Critically ill patients are at risk for prolongation of the interval between the Q wave and the T wave in the electrocardiogram (corrected QT [QTc]). Corrected QT prolongation is probably a dynamic process. It is unknown how many patients have a QTc prolongation during their intensive care stay and how variable QTc prolongation is. ⋯ Continuous QTc monitoring showed a prolonged QTc interval in 52% of intensive care patients. Severity of illness and QT and QTc variances are higher in these patients.