Critical care : the official journal of the Critical Care Forum
-
Prognosis after resuscitation from cardiac arrest (CA) remains poor, with high morbidity and mortality as a result of extensive cardiac and brain injury and lack of effective treatments. Hypertonic sodium lactate (HSL) may be beneficial after CA by buffering severe metabolic acidosis, increasing brain perfusion and cardiac performance, reducing cerebral swelling, and serving as an alternative energetic cellular substrate. The aim of this study was to test the effects of HSL infusion on brain and cardiac injury in an experimental model of CA. ⋯ In this experimental CA model, HSL infusion was associated with reduced vasopressor requirements and decreased plasma concentrations of measured biomarkers of cardiac and cerebral injury.
-
The development of stratification tools based on the assessment of circulating mRNA of genes involved in the immune response is constrained by the heterogeneity of septic patients. The aim of this study is to develop a transcriptomic score based on a pragmatic combination of immune-related genes detected with a prototype multiplex PCR tool. ⋯ The transcriptomic score provides a useful and reliable companion diagnostic tool to further develop immune modulating drugs in sepsis in the context of personalized medicine.
-
At the bedside, assessing the risk of ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI) requires parameters readily measured by the clinician. For this purpose, driving pressure (DP) and end-inspiratory static 'plateau' pressure ([Formula: see text]) of the tidal cycle are unquestionably useful but lack key information relating to associated volume changes and cumulative strain. 'Mechanical power', a clinical term which incorporates all dissipated ('non-elastic') and conserved ('elastic') energy components of inflation, has drawn considerable interest as a comprehensive 'umbrella' variable that accounts for the influence of ventilating frequency per minute as well as the energy cost per tidal cycle. ⋯ Here we describe how-if only in concept-the bedside clinician might gauge the theoretical hazard of delivered energy using easily observed static circuit pressures ([Formula: see text] and positive end expiratory pressure) and an estimate of the maximally tolerated (threshold) non-dissipated ('elastic') airway pressure that reflects the pressure component applied to the alveolar tissues. Because its core inputs are already in use and familiar in daily practice, the simplified mathematical model we propose here for damaging energy and power may promote deeper comprehension of the key factors in play to improve lung protective ventilation.