Articles: outcome.
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The ideal management of infection includes not only the early identification and start of effective therapy but also the correct categorization of non-infected patients in order to avoid unnecessary use of antimicrobials. The availability of a specific and sensitive test for the presence of infection is of paramount importance to improve the prudent use of antimicrobial therapy. Procalcitonin (PCT) has been evaluated over recent years as to whether it can be used to detect the presence of different types of infection, allows reduced duration of antibiotic therapy, or predicts treatment failure or adverse outcome. In the previous issue of Critical Care, Jung and colleagues report about the monitoring of treatment response in abdominal sepsis by repetitive determination of PCT.
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Editorial Comment
Eubaric hyperoxia: controversies in the management of acute traumatic brain injury.
Controversy exists on the role of hyperoxia in major trauma with brain injury. Hyperoxia on arterial blood gas has been associated with acute lung injury and pulmonary complications, impacting clinical outcome. The hyperoxia could be reflective of the physiological interventions following major systemic trauma. ⋯ The risk of low brain oxygen is most acute in the first 24 to 48 hours after injury. The administration of a high fraction of inspired oxygen (0.6 to 1.0) in the emergency room may be justifiable until ICU admission for the placement of invasive neurocritical care monitoring systems. Thereafter, fraction of inspired oxygen levels need to be careful titrated to prevent low brain oxygen levels.
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Over 80% of stroke deaths occur in low-income and middle-income regions of the world. Identification of predictors of mortality is vital so that prompt therapeutic measures could be instituted to improve outcome. Previous studies have identified factors such as stroke severity, stroke type, older age, impairment of consciousness and hyperglycaemia as predictors of mortality for acute stroke but mortality remain high among patients hospitalized for acute stroke. The study objective was to determine the association between admission serum albumin levels and short-term outcome following acute ischaemic stroke in Nigerians. ⋯ Low admission serum albumin was an independent determinant of poor outcome.
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The outcome of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) may depend on a variety of factors related to patient status or resuscitation management. To evaluate the factors influencing the outcome of CPR after cardiac arrest (CA) will be conducive to improve the effectiveness of resuscitation. Therefore, a study was designed to assess these factors in the emergency department (ED) of a city hospital. ⋯ Shockable rhythms, CPR duration ≤15 minutes and total adrenaline dose ≤5 mg were favorable predictors of ROSC, whereas traumatic etiology was unfavorable. Cardiac etiology, shockable rhythms and CPR duration ≤15 minutes were favorable predictors of 24-hour survival, whereas traumatic etiology was unfavorable. Cardiac etiology, shockable rhythms, CPR duration ≤15 minutes were favorable predictors of survival to discharge and neurologically favorable survival to discharge, but previous terminal illness or multiple organ failure (MOF) was unfavorable.
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The purpose of this 2-year retrospective study is to compare the outcomes of patients with either surgical clipping or endovascular coiling treatment for ruptured anterior circulation cerebral aneurysms. We enrolled 100 patients with spontaneous subarachnoid hemorrhage resulting from ruptured anterior circulation cerebral aneurysms. We reviewed the demographic information, operative details, and image examinations including computed tomography (CT), digital subtraction angiography, and magnetic resonance imaging of brains. ⋯ There was no intergroup difference in the following results: symptomatic or radiographic vasospasm, post-treat rebleeding, and recurrence of aneurysms. Although the incidences of unfavorable outcome at the end of follow-up were 32.0% and 27.0% in the clipping and coiling group respectively, it revealed no significant difference (p = 0.202). In dealing with the patients with ruptured anterior circulation cerebral aneurysms, our results provide helpful information when discussing projected outcome before surgical or endovascular treatment.