Critical care medicine
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Critical care medicine · Jun 2024
Observational StudyBarriers and Facilitators to End-of-Life Care Delivery in ICUs: A Qualitative Study.
To understand frontline ICU clinician's perceptions of end-of-life care delivery in the ICU. ⋯ Standardized work system communication tasks may improve end-of life discussion processes between clinicians and families.
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Critical care medicine · Jun 2024
Observational StudyEvaluation of ChatGPT in Predicting 6-Month Outcomes After Traumatic Brain Injury.
To evaluate the capacity of ChatGPT, a widely accessible and uniquely popular artificial intelligence-based chatbot, in predicting the 6-month outcome following moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). ⋯ This study does not support the use of ChatGPT for prediction of outcomes after TBI.
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Critical care medicine · Jun 2024
ReviewToward Equitable Kidney Function Estimation in Critical Care Practice. Guidance From the Society of Critical Care Medicine's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Renal Clinical Practice Task Force.
Accurate glomerular filtration rate (GFR) assessment is essential in critically ill patients. GFR is often estimated using creatinine-based equations, which require surrogates for muscle mass such as age and sex. Race has also been included in GFR equations, based on the assumption that Black individuals have genetically determined higher muscle mass. However, race-based GFR estimation has been questioned with the recognition that race is a poor surrogate for genetic ancestry, and racial health disparities are driven largely by socioeconomic factors. The American Society of Nephrology and the National Kidney Foundation (ASN/NKF) recommend widespread adoption of new "race-free" creatinine equations, and increased use of cystatin C as a race-agnostic GFR biomarker. ⋯ The lack of direct evidence in critically ill patients is a key barrier to broad implementation of newly developed "race-free" GFR equations. Additional research evaluating GFR equations in critically ill patients and novel approaches to dynamic kidney function estimation is required to advance equitable GFR assessment in this vulnerable population.
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Critical care medicine · Jun 2024
Multicenter StudyBiomarkers Improve Diagnostics of Sepsis in Adult Patients With Suspected Organ Dysfunction Based on the Quick Sepsis-Related Organ Failure Assessment (qSOFA) Score in the Emergency Department.
Consensus regarding biomarkers for detection of infection-related organ dysfunction in the emergency department is lacking. We aimed to identify and validate biomarkers that could improve risk prediction for overt or incipient organ dysfunction when added to quick Sepsis-related Organ Failure Assessment (qSOFA) as a screening tool. ⋯ Biomarkers of infection and organ dysfunction, most notably procalcitonin, substantially improve early prediction of sepsis with added value to qSOFA alone as a simple screening tool on emergency department admission.
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Critical care medicine · Jun 2024
Observational StudyEvolution of Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes of Critically Ill Patients 90 Years Old or Older Over a 12-Year Period: A Retrospective Cohort Study.
The global population is aging, and the proportion of very elderly patients 90 years old or older in the ICU is expected to increase. The changes in the comorbidities and outcomes of very elderly patients hospitalized in the ICU that have occurred over time are unknown. ⋯ The number of patients 90 years old or older who were treated in the ICU has increased in recent years. While the patients' clinical characteristics and short-term outcomes have not changed significantly, the long-term mortality of these patients has improved in recent years.