Critical care : the official journal of the Critical Care Forum
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The effect of sepsis on epidermal wound healing has not been previously studied. It was hypothesised that epidermal wound healing is disturbed in severe sepsis. ⋯ The restoration of the epidermal barrier function is delayed and wound blood flow is increased in patients with severe sepsis.
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Angiotensin II (Ang II) is a potential vasopressor treatment for hypotensive hyperdynamic sepsis. However, unlike other vasopressors, its systemic, regional blood flow and renal functional effects in hypotensive hyperdynamic sepsis have not been investigated. ⋯ In early experimental hypotensive hyperdynamic sepsis, intravenous angiotensin II infusion decreased renal blood while inducing a marked increase in urine output and normalizing creatinine clearance.
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Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) can be used to measure impedance changes related to the thoracic content of air and blood. Few studies, however, have utilised EIT to make concurrent measurements of ventilation and perfusion. This experimental study was performed to investigate the feasibility of EIT to describe ventilation/perfusion (V/Q) matching after acute changes of pulmonary perfusion and aeration. ⋯ EIT may be used to monitor the distribution of pulmonary ventilation and perfusion making detailed studies of V/Q matching possible.
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The optimal level of positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) in acute respiratory distress syndrome patients is still controversial and has gained renewed interest in the era of 'lung protective ventilation strategies'. Despite experimental evidence that higher levels of PEEP protect against ventilator-induced lung injury, recent clinical trials have failed to demonstrate clear survival benefits. The open-lung protective ventilation strategy combines lung recruitment maneuvers with a decremental PEEP trial aimed at finding the minimum level of PEEP that prevents the lung from collapsing. This approach to PEEP titration is more likely to exert its protective effects and is clearly different from the one used in previous clinical trials.
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Veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) is a cardio-pulmonary bypass technique to provide life support in acute reversible cardio-respiratory failure when conventional management is not successful. Most neonates receiving ECMO suffer from meconium aspiration syndrome (MAS), congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH), sepsis or persistent pulmonary hypertension (PPH). In five-year-old children who underwent VA-ECMO therapy as neonates, we assessed motor performance related to growth, intelligence and behaviour, and the association with the primary diagnosis. ⋯ The ECMO population is highly at risk for developmental problems, most prominently in the motor domain. Adverse outcome differs between the primary diagnosis groups. Objective evaluation of long-term developmental problems associated with this highly invasive technology is necessary to determine best evidence-based practice. The ideal follow-up programme requires an interdisciplinary team, the use of normal-referenced tests and an international consensus on timing and actual outcome measurements.