Journal of critical care
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Journal of critical care · Aug 2017
ReviewSepsis-associated in-hospital cardiac arrest: Epidemiology, pathophysiology, and potential therapies.
Sepsis-associated cardiac arrest is a relatively common occurrence with especially poor outcomes. Of the greater than 200,000 in-hospital cardiac arrests that occur in the United States annually, between 30,000 and 60,000 occur in patients with underlying sepsis. These patients are less likely to survive than cardiac arrest victims without sepsis. ⋯ We postulate that persistence of sepsis pathophysiology during and after cardiac arrest is responsible for these poor outcomes. This includes derangements of vascular tone and intravascular volume status; myocardial dysfunction; hypoxemia, acidemia, and other metabolic derangements; and pulmonary hypertension. Potential interventions that specifically target this pathophysiology before, during, and after cardiac arrest may augment standard cardiopulmonary resuscitation and post-resuscitation care for patients with sepsis and septic shock.
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Journal of critical care · Aug 2017
Novel urinary biomarkers and the early detection of acute kidney injury after open cardiac surgeries.
Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common complication after cardiac surgery, recently, several biomarkers have been used to facilitate early detection of AKI, including Neutrophil-gelatinase-associated-lipocalin (NGAL) and Kidney-injury-molecule-1 (KIM-1).This study was carried out to study the efficacy of urinary KIM-1 and NGAL separately and in combination in relation to early detection and assessment of severity of AKI after cardiac surgeries. ⋯ urinary NGAL is early sensitive but KIM-1which appears later than but is a more specific biomarker to ischemic renal injury. Urinary microscopic examination was found to be with very high sensitivity and specificity and injury site informative. The combination of more than one biomarker increases the accuracy of early detection of AKI after cardiac surgery.
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Journal of critical care · Aug 2017
Clinical TrialVentilation distribution and lung recruitment with speaking valve use in tracheostomised patient weaning from mechanical ventilation in intensive care.
Speaking valves (SV) are used infrequently in tracheostomised ICU patients due to concerns regarding their putative effect on lung recruitment. A recent study in cardio-thoracic population demonstrated increased end-expiratory lung volumes during and post SV use without examining if the increase in end-expiratory lung impedance (EELI) resulted in alveolar recruitment or potential hyperinflation in discrete loci. ⋯ These findings indicate that hyperinflation did not occur with SV use, which is supported by previously published data on respiratory parameters. These data along with obvious psychological benefits to patients are encouraging towards safe use of SVs in this critically ill cardio-thoracic patient population.