American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · Jan 1996
Comparative StudyRisk factors for nosocomial pneumonia: comparing adult critical-care populations.
The purpose of the study was to examine risk factors for nosocomial pneumonia in the surgical and medical/respiratory intensive care unit (ICU) populations. In a public teaching hospital, all cases of nosocomial pneumonia in the surgical and medical/respiratory ICUs (n = 20, respectively) were identified by prospective surveillance during a 5-yr period from 1987-1991. Each group of ICU cases was compared with 40 ICU control patients who did not acquire pneumonia, and analyzed for 25 potential risk factors. ⋯ APACHE III score was found to be predictive of nosocomial pneumonia in the surgical ICU population, but not in the medical/respiratory ICU population. We conclude that certain groups deserve special attention for infection control intervention. Surgical ICU patients with high APACHE scores and receiving prolonged mechanical ventilation may be at the greatest risk of acquiring nosocomial pneumonia of all hospitalized patients.
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · Jan 1996
Comparative StudySurfactant alterations in severe pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and cardiogenic lung edema.
Bronchoalveolar lavage fluids (BALF) were analyzed for surfactant abnormalities in 153 patients with acute respiratory failure necessitating mechanical ventilation. Diagnoses were acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in the absence of lung infection (n = 16), severe pneumonia (PNEU; n = 88), ARDS and PNEU (n = 36), and cardiogenic lung edema (CLE; n = 13). The PNEU group was subdivided into groups with alveolar PNEU (n = 35), bronchial PNEU (n = 16), interstitial PNEU (n = 18) and nonclassified PNEU (n = 19). ⋯ Abnormalities in alveolar PNEU surpassed those in bronchial PNEU, and interstitial PNEU presented a distinct pattern with extensive metabolic changes. All surfactant changes were absent in CLE except for a slight inhibition of surface activity by proteins. We conclude that pronounced surfactant abnormalities, comparable to those in ARDS in the absence of lung infection, occur in different entities of severe PNEU, but not in CLE.
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · Jan 1996
Comparative StudyPneumonia in intubated trauma patients. Microbiology and outcomes.
To describe the epidemiology of nosocomial pneumonia in trauma patients and its impact on outcome, we performed a retrospective case-control analysis. Quantitative bronchoscopic cultures were collected from 62 intubated patients with suspected pneumonia. Patients with proven pneumonia had higher abdominal injury scores. ⋯ Patients with pneumonia did not receive excess ventilation or hospitalization but incurred hospital charges 1.5 times higher than controls (p = 0.04). Pneumonia was confirmed in less than half of those suspected of having it on the basis of clinical findings. When severity of injury was considered, pneumonia was associated with neither increased mortality nor increased hospital care, but the clinical features suggesting respiratory infection identified trauma patients requiring prolonged hospitalization and incurring higher costs.
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · Jan 1996
Comparative StudyNocturnal saturation improves by target-flow inspiratory muscle training in patients with COPD.
Nocturnal desaturations during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, caused by nonobstructive hypoventilation, occur frequently in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This is partly caused by decreased activity of the intercostal and accessory muscles due to a lower motor command. The diaphragm has to compensate for the diminished activity of these muscles during REM sleep. ⋯ PImax, Pdi, SIPmax, and the endurance time as well as the nocturnal saturation improved significantly in the 60% training group (by 3.0 +/- 1.5 kPa, 3.4 +/- 1.9 kPa, 1.5 +/- 1.4 kPa, 189 +/- 149 s, and 1.9 +/- 2.2%, respectively), whereas no changes occurred in the sham training group. Also, significant correlations were observed between the changes in Pdi, SIPmax, and endurance time on the one hand and the change in nocturnal saturation on the other. We conclude that TF-IMT improves the nocturnal saturation in patients with severe COPD by increasing respiratory muscle strength and endurance.
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · Jan 1996
Comparative StudyFluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography in the detection and staging of lung cancer.
Glycolysis is increased in tumor tissues. [18F]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) is a glucose analogue radiopharmaceutical used in positron emission tomography (PET) to trace glucose metabolism. We investigated the sensitivity and specificity of FDG-PET imaging in the diagnosis and staging of lung cancer. One hundred and seven patients who had abnormal chest roentgenograms underwent whole-body PET imaging using FDG. ⋯ Seven of these patients had lymphadenopathy on computed tomography. FDG-PET imaging is 100% accurate in predicting mediastinal involvement in patients with lung cancer. It is 100% sensitive and 52% specific in predicting the malignant nature of a chest radiographic abnormality.