Articles: mortality.
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Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd · Jan 2012
[Dutch military casualties of the war in Afghanistan--quality of life and level of participation after rehabilitation].
To describe the distribution of injuries and the quality of life and functioning at activity and participation level of rehabilitated Dutch military personnel who were wounded during the mission to Afghanistan. ⋯ The quality of life and functional level of Dutch military personnel who were injured in combat in Afghanistan seemed to be lower than in the general population after 2.3 years. For a large part this could be explained by the level of mobility and occupation.
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The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical usefulness of a semiquantitative procalcitonin kit for assessing severity of sepsis and early determination of mortality in affected patients. ⋯ Semiquantitative procalcitonin concentration testing can be helpful for early assessment of disease severity in patients with sepsis. Furthermore, it may also help in predicting early mortality in septic patients. Based on the level of semiquantitative procalcitonin measured in patients with suspected sepsis, a timely decision can be reliably made to transfer them to a tertiary hospital with an intensive care unit for optimal care.
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Although enterococci are relatively common nosocomial pathogens in surgical intensive care units (ICUs), their significance in blood cultures from patients in the medical ICU is unclear. ⋯ Enterococcal bacteremia is an important nosocomial infection in the medical ICU, with a predilection for older patients with multiple comorbidities. Its occurrence is associated with a significantly longer ICU stay and a trend to a higher mortality. The choice of antibiotics should be dictated by local susceptibility data.
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Early studies of community-acquired pneumonia showed that nonsurvivors had higher blood urea nitrogen levels and lower serum albumin levels than survivors. Therefore, elevation of the blood urea nitrogen to serum albumin (B/A) ratio may identify patients with community-acquired pneumonia who are becoming critically ill. This study investigated the correlation between commonly used laboratory markers, in particular the B/A ratio, and clinical outcomes of community-acquired pneumonia. ⋯ The B/A ratio is a simple but independent predictor of mortality and severity of community-acquired pneumonia.