Articles: function.
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To study patient-level improvements in pain and limitations of key activities of daily living (ADLs) after primary or revision total knee arthroplasty (TKA). ⋯ Our study provides comprehensive data for patient-level improvements in pain and key ADLs. These data can be used to inform patients pre-operatively of expected outcomes, based on pre-operative status, which may further help patients set realistic goals for improvements after TKA.
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Minerva anestesiologica · Feb 2014
Observational StudyUse of B-type natriuretic peptides to detect the existence and severity of diastolic dysfunction in non-cardiac critically ill patients: a pilot study.
This observational study was designed to evaluate and compare the usefulness of BNP and NT-proBNP concentrations to detect the existence and severity of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD) in critically ill patients. ⋯ Both BNP and NT-proBNP are useful screening tools to detect the presence of advanced degrees of LVDD, and especially to rule out elevated filling pressures.
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · Feb 2014
Regulation of Hypoxia-Induced Pulmonary Hypertension by Vascular Smooth Muscle HIF-1alpha.
Chronic hypoxia induces pulmonary vascular remodeling, pulmonary hypertension, and right ventricular hypertrophy. At present, little is known about mechanisms driving these responses. Hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) is a master regulator of transcription in hypoxic cells, up-regulating genes involved in energy metabolism, proliferation, and extracellular matrix reorganization. Systemic loss of a single HIF-1α allele has been shown to attenuate hypoxic pulmonary hypertension, but the cells contributing to this response have not been identified. ⋯ These results indicate that HIF-1α in smooth muscle contributes to pulmonary vascular remodeling and pulmonary hypertension in chronic hypoxia. However, loss of HIF-1 function in smooth muscle does not affect hypoxic cardiac remodeling, suggesting that the cardiac hypertrophy response is not directly coupled to the increase in pulmonary artery pressure.
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Designing a smart ICU is a time-consuming, complex, multiphased, political, and costly exercise. This process begins with two notions: First, all hospital parties agree that a new or renovated ICU is required, and second, the hospital has agreed to allocate space, personnel, and fiscal resources for the project. In this first of a three-part series on innovative designs for the smart ICU, we will explore the roles of the ICU design team in managing the design process. ⋯ Technology platforms need to be standardized within the ICU and equipment purchases protected against early obsolescence. The ramifications and expectations of the new ICU must be thoughtfully considered and dealt with during the design process. Last, it is essential that the design group continue its involvement in the new ICU during construction, occupancy, and post occupancy.
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There is a growing interest in measuring cerebral autoregulation in patients with acute brain injury. Non-invasive finger photo-plethysmography (Finapres) is the method of choice to relate arterial blood pressure to changes in cerebral blood flow. Among acutely ill patients, however, peripheral vasoconstriction often limits the use of Finapres requiring direct intravascular blood pressure measurement. We evaluated how these two different forms of blood pressure monitoring affect the parameters of dynamic cerebral autoregulation (DCA). ⋯ Overall, both methods yield similar results and can be used for the assessment of DCA. However, there was a small but significant difference for both mean Mx and phase shift, which would need to be adjusted for during monitoring of patients when using both methods. When available, invasive arterial blood pressure monitoring may improve accuracy and thus should be the preferred method for DCA assessment in the ICU.