Critical care : the official journal of the Critical Care Forum
-
Multicenter Study Clinical Trial
Does training improve diagnostic accuracy and inter-rater agreement in applying the Berlin radiographic definition of acute respiratory distress syndrome? A multicenter prospective study.
Poor inter-rater reliability in chest radiograph interpretation has been reported in the context of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), although not for the Berlin definition of ARDS. We sought to examine the effect of training material on the accuracy and consistency of intensivists' chest radiograph interpretations for ARDS diagnosis. ⋯ The radiographic diagnostic accuracy and inter-rater agreement were poor when the Berlin radiographic definition was used, and were not significantly improved by the training set of chest radiographs developed by the ARDS Definition Task Force.
-
Multicenter Study
Is platelet transfusion associated with hospital-acquired infections in critically ill patients?
Platelets are commonly transfused to critically ill patients. Reports suggest an association between platelet transfusion and infection. However, there is no large study to have determined whether platelet transfusion in critically ill patients is associated with hospital-acquired infection. ⋯ After adjustment for confounders, including patient severity and other blood components, platelet transfusion was independently associated with ICU-acquired infection. Further research aiming to better understand this association and to prevent this complication is warranted.