Critical care medicine
-
Critical care medicine · Mar 2015
Extravascular Lung Water and Pulmonary Vascular Permeability Index as Markers Predictive of Postoperative Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome: A Prospective Cohort Investigation.
Robust markers of subclinical perioperative lung injury are lacking. Extravascular lung water indexed to predicted body weight and pulmonary vascular permeability index are two promising early markers of lung edema. We aimed to evaluate whether extravascular lung water indexed to predicted body weight and pulmonary vascular permeability index would identify patients at risk for clinically significant postoperative pulmonary edema, particularly resulting from the acute respiratory distress syndrome. ⋯ Perioperative extravascular lung water indexed to predicted body weight is an early marker that predicts risk of clinically significant postoperative pulmonary edema in at-risk surgical patients. Pulmonary vascular permeability index effectively discriminated postoperative acute respiratory distress syndrome from cardiogenic pulmonary edema. These measures will aid in the early detection of subclinical lung injury in at-risk surgical populations.
-
Critical care medicine · Mar 2015
Reversible Increase in Maximal Cortisol Secretion Rate in Septic Shock.
Cortisol clearance is reduced in sepsis and may contribute to the development of impaired adrenocortical function that is thought to contribute to the pathophysiology of critical illness-related corticosteroid insufficiency. We sought to assess adrenocortical function using computer-assisted numerical modeling methodology to characterize and compare maximal cortisol secretion rate and free cortisol half-life in septic shock, sepsis, and healthy control subjects. ⋯ Results obtained by numerical modeling are consistent with comparable measures obtained by the gold standard stable isotope dilution method. Septic shock is associated with generally not only higher levels but also greater variance of maximal cortisol secretion rate when compared with control and sepsis groups. Additional studies would be needed to determine whether assessment of cortisol kinetic parameters such as maximal cortisol secretion rate and free cortisol half-life is useful in the diagnosis or management of critical illness-related corticosteroid insufficiency.