Current opinion in critical care
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We review new findings concerning ventricular function in patients in intensive care units with shock or unexplained respiratory distress syndrome analyzed using echocardiography. ⋯ Using echocardiography the intensivist can examine both the mechanism and the cause of shock or pulmonary edema. It is time to increase the use of this technique in intensive care units.
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Curr Opin Crit Care · Jun 2006
ReviewIncidence and significance of gasping or agonal respirations in cardiac arrest patients.
This review examines the clinical significance of agonal respirations associated with cardiac arrest. ⋯ Agonal respirations occur frequently in cardiac arrest. Emergency dispatchers and the general public must be more aware of their presence and significance.
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Curr Opin Crit Care · Jun 2006
ReviewRadiographic measures of intravascular volume status: the role of vascular pedicle width.
A valid, low-cost, high-yield instrument to assess intravascular volume status in critically ill patients does not exist. The portable chest X-ray is a common part of any intensivist's or chest clinician's daily rounds. ⋯ Vascular pedicle width measurement using a standardized approach to daily chest X-ray interpretation represents untapped potential for improving the non-invasive assessment of volume status in critically ill patients.
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Cardiac preload is frequently altered during hemodynamic failure and is a major focus of therapeutic management. The aim of this review was to summarize the invasive indicators of preload and the invasive predictors of preload responsiveness. ⋯ The best prediction of the hemodynamic response to fluid therapy is afforded by functional evaluation of preload responsiveness rather than by static markers of preload.
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Mixed venous and central venous oxygen saturations reflect the balance between oxygen requirement and oxygen delivery, and thus may be used to assess the adequacy of tissue oxygenation. This review discusses recent data on the impact of using venous oximetry by obtaining mixed venous oxygen saturation or central venous oxygen saturation as useful monitoring parameters in critically ill patients. ⋯ Early goal-directed therapy should be implemented in the initial resuscitation of septic patients. Central venous saturation may have prognostic significance following major surgery. Further evaluation of peri-operative trends in central venous saturation is required. Measurement of central venous oxygen saturation can easily be applied in intensive care unit patients and offers a useful, indirect indicator for the adequacy of tissue oxygenation.