Critical care medicine
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Critical care medicine · Jul 1994
Comparative StudyClinical recovery of consciousness after traumatic coma.
To describe early clinical stages in the recovery of consciousness, using selected items from the Glasgow Coma Scale and the Liège Coma Scale. ⋯ This study confirms the classical clinical sequence of arousal and recovery of consciousness, with the appearance of stimulated eye opening and the blink reflex first, followed by spontaneous eye opening, and the capacity to obey commands in intubated, traumatized, coma patients. A direct correlation existed between the delay of arousal and the complete recovery of consciousness. When groups of patients with various mean delays for the appearance of stimulated eye opening are considered, reappearance of the blink reflex did not always coincide with stimulated eye opening, suggesting differing structural and functional brain recovery processes.
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Critical care medicine · Jul 1994
Comparative Study Retracted PublicationContinuous hemofiltration and platelet function in critically ill patients.
To evaluate platelet function in patients undergoing continuous pump-driven veno-venous hemofiltration. ⋯ Continuous pump-driven veno-venous hemofiltration significantly changed platelet aggregability, which became obvious 2 to 3 days after the start of hemofiltration.
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Critical care medicine · Jul 1994
ReviewBiology of proinflammatory cytokines and their antagonists.
To review the role of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin-1 (IL-1) in the proinflammatory cascade, with particular emphasis on the association between increased concentrations of these cytokines and the sepsis-associated shock syndrome. Data that support the role of these cytokines as proinflammatory mediators provide a rationale for specific anticytokine therapies. ⋯ Induction of inflammation during sepsis is a complex biological cascade that may be effectively attenuated by novel anticytokine biotherapies.
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Critical care medicine · Jul 1994
ReviewDoes the formulation of enteral feeding products influence infectious morbidity and mortality rates in the critically ill patients? A critical review of the evidence.
To examine the relationship between the formulation of enteral nutrition and nosocomial infection in critical illness. ⋯ Insufficient experimental data exist to permit conclusions that enteral nutrition formulations or supplements reduce infectious morbidity and mortality rates, but results are promising enough to warrant further research.
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Critical care medicine · Jul 1994
Comparative StudyEffect of carboxyhemoglobin on the accuracy of mixed venous oximetry monitors in dogs.
To assess the accuracy of mixed venous hemoglobin oxygen saturation estimated, using in vivo pulmonary artery reflectance oximetry with ranging concentrations of carboxyhemoglobin. ⋯ Mixed venous oxygen saturation monitoring does not detect the presence of carboxyhemoglobin and progressively overestimates fractional oxyhemoglobin as carboxyhemoglobin increases. Mixed venous oxygen saturation values of the standard pulmonary artery oximetry catheter approximately equal functional hemoglobin saturation. Bench co-oximeter blood analysis is required in patients suspected of having increased carboxyhemoglobin levels.