ICU Volume 13 - Issue 4 - Winter 2013/2014

Author Jean-Louis Vincent Editor-in-Chief ICU Management Head Department of Intensive Care, Erasme Hospital / Free University of Brussels, Brussels, Belgium [email protected] Prevention and treatment of severe pulmonary infections is the subject of this issue’s cover story. Lung infections are common in the ICU and have a number of challenges in prevention, diagnosis and treatment....

A newly discovered nociceptin receptor in the body might be important in the body’s response to sepsis, according to researchers. The body’s initial response to sepsis is to produce an intense reaction from the immune system to fight the infection. This involves activation of white blood cells, stress hormones and other substances, known as ‘inflammatory mediators’, which cause inflammation. It h...

A recent article in BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making by Ixchel Castellanos and colleagues looked at the financial implications of introducing a Patient Data Management System. This study was a retrospective observational and explorative analysis of cost and reimbursement data of a hospital ICU in Germany for three years before and three years after the system introduction. The authors believe tha...

NEHI, a national nonprofit health policy institute published a brief in November, which outlines best practices for tele-ICUs. While the technology used in the tele-ICUs surveyed in the United States is similar, practices vary. The NEHI argues that these emerging new patterns of use have the potential to make tele-ICU coverage more scalable and accessible to more hospitals and more beds. The bri...

Authors Matthieu Boisson, MD Chief Resident of Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, University Hospital of Poitiers Poitiers, France Inserm U1070, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy University of Poitiers, Poitiers, France [email protected] Olivier Mimoz, MD, PhD Co-Head Department of Anesthesiology&Intensive Care University Hospital of Poitiers Poitiers, Fra...

Authors David Pearson, MB BChir, MA (Cantab), FCICM Staff Specialist, Intensive Care Unit, Gold Coast University Hospital, Southport, Queensland, Australia [email protected]& [email protected] Yoshiro Hayashi, MD, PhD Director of Intensive Care Medicine, Kameda Medical Center, Kamogawa, Japan Honorary Associate Professor, UQ Centre for Clinical Research, The University...

Michael S. Niederman, MD Professor of Medicine SUNY at Stony Brook Chairman, Department of Medicine Winthrop-University Hospital Mineola, NY Introduction Inhaled antibiotics have been available for use in patients with a wide range of respiratory infections, but their role in mechanically ventilated patients has not been routine, and has been primarily as adjunctive salvage therapy for difficult infecti...

Authors Martin Matejovic, MD, PhD Professor of Medicine Head, ICU, 1st Medical Dept Faculty of Medicine in Plzen Charles University in Prague Teaching Hospital Plzen, Plzen, Czech Republic [email protected] Lenka Ledvinova, MD PhD Student ICU, 1st Medical Dept Faculty of Medicine in Plzen Charles University in Prague Teaching Hospital Plzen, Plzen, Czech Republic Vojtech Dan...

Author Samuel A. Tisherman, MD, FACS, FCCM Professor Departments of Critical Care Medicine and Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Director, Neuro Trauma ICU, UPMC Presbyterian Hospital Associate Director, Safar Center for Resuscitation Research, University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA [email protected] Uncontrolled, exposure hypothermia is associated with worse...

Author Terence Valenzuela, MD Professor Department of Emergency Medicine University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA [email protected] Introduction Worldwide, stroke remains the second leading cause of death after heart disease. Since the 1970s there has been a 42% decrease in stroke mortality in high-income countries and a 100% increase in low-income countries (Norrving and Kissela...

Authors Univ.-Prof. Gernot Marx, MD, FRCA Head Department for Intensive medicine and Intermediate care University Hospital RWTH Aachen, Germany Rainer Beckers, MPH, MA Managing Director ZTG Zentrum für Telematik und Telemedizin GmbH Bochum, Germany Ageing society will lead inevitably to a shortage of intensivists. Tele-intensivemedicine as an innovative solution grants future provision of c...

Author Lieutenant Colonel Michael C. Reade, MBBS MPH DPhil FANZCA FCICM Intensivist & Australian Defence Force Professor of Military Medicine and Surgery Burns, Trauma and Critical Care Research Centre, University of Queensland and Joint Health Command, Australian Defence Force Brisbane, Queensland, Australia [email protected] [email protected] Rapid evacuation of critically...

Author Christian P. Subbe, MD Senior Clinical Lecturer in Acute and Critical Care Medicine, School of Medical Sciences, Bangor University & Consultant in Acute, Respiratory and Intensive Care Medicine Ysbyty Gwynedd, Bangor, UK [email protected] Rapid Response Systems (RRSs) improve timely referral to ICU, rate of unscheduled admissions and readmissions rates. Reliability of RRSs might...

Professor Jan Bakker is Professor of Medicine and Vice-chair of the Department of Intensive Care Adults at Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam in the Netherlands. He is Visiting Professor at Columbia University - New York Presbyterian, U.S. and a Visiting Professor at the University Hospital Pontificia Catolica de Chile. Can you explain the significance of lactate monitoring in critically ill patients...

Authors Dr. Mariam A. Alansari, MD, FRCSI Consultant Intensivist Department of Critical Care King Khalid University Hospital, College of Medicine-King Saud University Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia [email protected] Dr. A.H. Alzeer, FRCP (c ), FCCP Professor of Medicine and Critical Care Department of Critical Care, King Khalid University Hospital, College of Medicine-King Saud Uni...