British journal of anaesthesia
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Excellent anaesthetists were identified by anaesthesia nurses as being:
- Organised & focused: structured, responsible, and focused approach to work tasks.
- Good communicators: clear and informative, briefing of team about the plan before induction.
- Respectful of complexity: humble to the complexity of anaesthesia, admitting own fallibility.
- Patient-centred: personal contact with the patient before induction.
- Good situational awareness: fluent in practical work without losing overview.
- Calm and clear in critical situations, being able to change to a strong leading style.
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Review Meta Analysis
Patients with end-stage renal disease admitted to the intensive care unit: systematic review.
The number of patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) is increasing worldwide, with a growing demand on healthcare services. A systematic review of the literature was performed to determine the requirement for intensive care unit (ICU) services, reasons for admission, predictors of mortality, and short- and long-term outcomes of ESRD patients admitted to ICU. Sixteen studies were identified, comprising 6591 ICU admissions. ⋯ Although the mortality rate remains high shortly after hospital discharge, the duration of increased mortality risk is unclear. Patients with ESRD frequently benefit from ICU admission, despite chronic co-morbidity. Further studies are required to modify and validate existing illness severity scores for ESRD patients admitted to the ICU, and to establish the duration of increased mortality risk after discharge from ICU.
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Malignant hyperthermia (MH) is a potentially fatal pharmacogenetic disorder in which intracellular calcium homeostasis in the skeletal muscle of susceptible individuals is disrupted upon exposure to halogenated anaesthetics. While MH is linked to the ryanodine receptor (RYR1) on chromosome 19 and the α1S subunit of the voltage-dependent L-type calcium channel (CACNA1S) on chromosome 1, mutations have been found in only 50-70% of patients, and subsequently, there is a need for a more powerful screening tool. ⋯ In this study, we successfully demonstrate the use of genomic DNA capture and next-generation sequencing for identification of putative mutations causing MH. We also suggest that whole exome sequencing may be necessary to identify MH causing mutations in patients where no mutations in RYR1 and CACNA1S have been identified thus far.