Critical care : the official journal of the Critical Care Forum
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Although fever magnitude and etiology have been associated with outcomes of critically ill patients, possible associations between fever duration and mortality remain inconclusive. Since long-lasting fever is generally attributed to severe pathologic conditions, it is expected to be an indicator of adverse outcome. ⋯ Existing studies on these associations have been considerably limited because of methodological flaws, which may account for controversial findings that have been reported. Well-designed, large-sample studies using diverse measures of fever duration need to be conducted.
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Hu and coworkers in the previous issue of Critical Care provide evidence for the clinical relevance of proteinuria in the outcome of burn patients. Proteinuria is a common finding after severe burns, appears within a short period and is detectable for several weeks. Proteinuria ranging from 0.5 to 3 to 4 g/day is initially of mixed type, then, after a week, gradually changes to tubular proteinuria. ⋯ Proteinuria is considered the mirror of increased systemic capillary permeability, and possibly a direct marker of glomerular and tubular injury. Circulating plasma inflammatory mediators and pro-apoptotic factors reflecting burn injury, sepsis and acute kidney injury can affect the viability and function of tubular cells and podocytes. These studies highlight that proteinuria in burn patients should receive due consideration.
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Blockade of the CXC chemokine receptor 3 (CXCR3) attenuates inflammation and improves survival in a murine model of near lethal polymicrobial sepsis. However, given the multitude of cellular responses and inflammatory mediators that orchestrate sepsis syndrome, more detailed investigations will be required before a complete understanding of the mechanism(s) of CXCR3 blockade and its therapeutic potential are revealed.
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The recent bus crash in Switzerland involving many children provides several lessons for the pre-hospital care community. The use of multiple helicopters that are capable of flying at night and that carry advanced medical pre-hospital teams undoubtedly saved lives following the tragedy. We describe the medical response to the incident and the lessons that can be learned for emergency medical services.