Articles: function.
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Anasthesiol Intensivmed Notfallmed Schmerzther · Jan 2015
[Ethical challenge in palliative support of intensive care patients].
Intensive care medicine and palliative care medicine were considered for a long time to be contrasting concepts in therapy. While intensive care medicine is directed towards prolonging life and tries to stabilize disordered body functions, palliative care medicine is focused upon the relief of disturbances to help patients in the face of death. Today both views have become congruent. ⋯ In the course of illness or in respect of the patient's will, the aim of therapy may change from curative to palliative. Two examples are presented to illustrate the ethical challenges in this process. They follow from the medical indication, attention to the patient's will, different opinions in the team, truth at the bedside and from what must be done in the process of withdrawing therapy.
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A primary goal of research on developmental critical periods (CPs) is the recapitulation of a juvenile-like state of malleability in the adult brain that might enable recovery from injury. These ambitions are often framed in terms of the simple reinstatement of enhanced plasticity in the growth-restricted milieu of an injured adult brain. Here, we provide an analysis of the similarities and differences between deprivation-induced and injury-induced cortical plasticity, to provide for a nuanced comparison of these remarkably similar processes. ⋯ This biphasic response profile emphasizes the transition from a period of cortical healing to one of reconnection and recovery of function. Yet while injury-induced plasticity in adult shares several salient characteristics with deprivation-induced plasticity during the CP, the degree to which the adult injured brain is able to functionally rewire, and the time required to do so, present major limitations for recovery. Attempts to recapitulate a measure of CP plasticity in an adult injury context will need to carefully dissect the circuit alterations and plasticity mechanisms involved while measuring functional behavioral output to assess their ultimate success.
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J Clin Monit Comput · Dec 2014
Clinical TrialDetection of respiratory compromise by acoustic monitoring, capnography, and brain function monitoring during monitored anesthesia care.
Episodes of apnea in sedated patients represent a risk of respiratory compromise. We hypothesized that acoustic monitoring would be equivalent to capnography for detection of respiratory pauses, with fewer false alarms. In addition, we hypothesized that the patient state index (PSI) would be correlated with the frequency of respiratory pauses and therefore could provide information about the risk of apnea during sedation. ⋯ For the 51 respiratory pauses validated by retrospective analysis, the sensitivity, specificity, and likelihood ratio positive for detection were 16, 96 %, and 3.5 for clinician observation; 88, 7 %, and 1.0 for capnography; and 55, 87 %, and 4.1 for acoustic monitoring. There was no correlation between PSI and respiratory pause events. Acoustic monitoring had the highest likelihood ratio positive for detection of respiratory pause events compared with capnography and clinician observation and, therefore, may provide the best method for respiration rate monitoring during these procedures.
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Critical care medicine · Dec 2014
Randomized Controlled TrialRandomized Controlled Trial of Inhaled Nitric Oxide for the Treatment of Microcirculatory Dysfunction in Patients With Sepsis.
Sepsis treatment guidelines recommend macrocirculatory hemodynamic optimization; however, microcirculatory dysfunction is integral to sepsis pathogenesis. We aimed to test the hypothesis that following macrocirculatory optimization, inhaled nitric oxide would improve microcirculation in patients with sepsis and that improved microcirculation would improve lactate clearance and multiple organ dysfunction. ⋯ Following macrocirculatory optimization, inhaled nitric oxide at 40 ppm did not augment microcirculatory perfusion in patients with sepsis. Further, we found no association between microcirculatory perfusion and multiple organ dysfunction after initial resuscitation.