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Infection control depends on adequate microbe recognition and cell activation, yet inflammatory response may lead to organ dysfunction in sepsis. The aims of this study were to evaluate cell activation in the ...
The epidemiology of Clostridium difficile infection is changing as a result of the epidemic spread of the hypervirulent North American Pulsefield type 1 strain. Clinicians are likely to encounter this disease mor...
Evidence is emerging that elevated concentrations of the intermediates of the citric acid cycle may contribute to unmeasured anions in critical illness. Both the anion gap and the strong ion gap are used as sc...
The present study sought to investigate the correlation of copeptin with the severity of septic status in patients with ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), and to analyze the usefulness of copeptin as a pre...
Sepsis is the leading cause of admission to critical care units worldwide, with increasing research and publications reflecting this. Tight control of the blood glucose concentration can reduce morbidity and m...
An outbreak of severe nosocomial Burkholderia cepacia infections in patients admitted to intensive care unit (ICU), including investigation of the reservoir, is described.
Little is known about the most severe forms of Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia (PCP) in HIV-negative as compared with HIV-positive patients. Improved knowledge about the differential characteristics and managemen...
The Erratum to this article has been published in Critical Care 2009 13:407
Mechanical ventilation at high tidal volume (HTV) may cause pulmonary capillary leakage and acute lung inflammation resulting in ventilator-induced lung injury. Besides blunting the Toll-like receptor-4-induce...
Hyperglycaemia following aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is associated with complications and impaired neurological recovery. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of insulin treatment for...
Studies of hospital performance highlight the problem of 'failure to rescue' in acutely ill patients. This is a deficiency strongly associated with serious adverse events, cardiac arrest, or death. Rapid respo...
Myxoedema coma is a rare and life-threatening illness the outcome of which has not been robustly studied in large numbers, partly due to its low incidence. Dutta and colleagues have explored outcome predictors...
The mechanism of sepsis-induced cardiac failure was initially thought to be related to the presence of 'myocardial depressant' substances that directly alter heart function. Exosomes released by platelets and ...
Kerbs von Lungren 6 antigen (KL-6) is expressed on the surface of alveolar type II cells, and elevated plasma and epithelial lining fluid levels of KL-6 have previously been shown to correlate with the severit...
Invasive mycoses are life-threatening opportunistic infections and have emerged as a major cause of morbidity and mortality in critically ill patients. This review focuses on recent advances in our understandi...
Sepsis is one of the most common conditions encountered in the intensive care unit and is the 10th leading cause of death overall in the United States. Both long-term survival and health-related quality of lif...
Liver transplantation has been reported to initiate increases in procalcitonin levels, in the absence of bacterial infection. The results of a study investigating the course of procalcitonin levels over severa...
The innate immune response to trauma hemorrhage involves inflammatory mediators, thus promoting cellular dysfunction as well as cell death in diverse tissues. These effects ultimately bear the risk of post-tra...
Simple methods to predict the effect of lung recruitment maneuvers (LRMs) in acute lung injury (ALI) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) are lacking. It has previously been found that a static press...
Differential diagnosis of patients with bilateral lung infiltrates remains a difficult problem for intensive care clinicians. Here we evaluate the diagnostic role of soluble triggering receptor expressed on my...
In recent years, the incidence and severity of Clostridium difficile-associated disease (CDAD) have increased dramatically. Beginning in 2000, widespread regional outbreaks associated with a previously uncommon h...
Investigations on the relationship between sepsis, brain dysfunction, and cerebral perfusion are methodologically very difficult to perform. It is important to interpret the results of such studies in view of ...
Dermatology is usually thought of as an outpatient specialty with low mortality, however some skin conditions require intensive care. These conditions are relatively rare and hence are best studied using clini...
This article is part of a Supplement: Volume 12 Supplement 1
Continuous control of tracheal tube cuff inflation using a pneumatic device resulted in severe tracheal wall damage in ventilated piglets. This damage was similar in piglets managed with manual control of cuff...
Pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines are elevated after cardiac surgery. The control of the release of these major paracrine proteins is becoming clearer and they have been shown to be involved in the activati...
Increased microvascular permeability resulting in tissue edema is a hallmark of sepsis-related microcirculatory failure, and leukocyte–endothelium interaction is thought to assume major importance in this cont...
Fungal infection is increasingly common in critical illness with severe sepsis, but the influence of invasive fungal infection (IFI) on severe sepsis is not well understood. The aim of this study was to invest...
Circulatory dysfunction in cirrhotic patients may cause a specific kind of functional renal failure termed hepato-renal syndrome (HRS). It contributes to the high incidence of renal failure in cirrhotic intens...
Distinguishing pulmonary edema due to acute lung injury (ALI) or the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) from hydrostatic or cardiogenic edema is challenging in critically ill patients. B-type natriuret...
The receptor of advanced glycation endproducts (RAGE) is a multiligand receptor that upon activation causes sustained activation of multiple inflammatory pathways. Recent evidence, summarized in a review by Bo...
Sepsis still represents an important clinical and economic challenge for intensive care units. Severe complications like multi-organ failure with high mortality and the lack of specific diagnostic tools contin...
Because illicit drugs are now widely consumed, every doctor needs to know their acute medical consequences and complications. Here, we review the problems associated with the different drugs from a systems-bas...
Recommendations for sedation regimes in the intensive care unit (ICU) have evolved over the last decade based on findings that relate the clinical approach to improved patient outcomes. Martin and co-workers c...
Cardiomyocytes exposed to inflammatory processes express intracellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1). We investigated whether fibrinogen and fibrinogen degradation products, including D-dimer, could alter cardi...
With the easy availability of thyroid hormone assays, thyroid disorders are now recognised even in a subclinical state. However, patients are still seen with advanced manifestations of the disease, particularl...
The receptor for advanced glycation endproducts (RAGE) has complex roles in the immune/inflammatory response. RAGE is expressed on monocytes/macrophages, T and B lymphocytes, and dendritic cells. Previous stud...
Hemodynamic instability following the changeover of vasoactive infusion pump (CVIP) is a common problem in the intensive care unit. Several empiric methods are used to achieve CVIP. We hypothesized that the va...
While the principles underlying alveolar gas exchange have been well-known for over 50 years, we still struggle to assess gas exchange in hypoxemic patients. Unfortunately, simple measurements lack discriminat...
Simple, sensitive and specific predictors of mortality in the critically ill remain elusive goals, and brain natriuretic peptide and venous lactate are the subjects of recent studies. The role of vasopressin i...
Cholecystokinin (CCK) and peptide YY (PYY) are released in response to intestinal nutrients and play an important physiological role in regulation of gastric emptying (GE). Plasma CCK and PYY concentrations ar...
This article is part of a Supplement: Volume 11 Supplement 5
Critical Care