Year in review 2006: Critical Care – multiple organ failure, sepsis, and shock

Year in review 2007: Critical Care – multiple organ failure and sepsis

Several research papers published in Critical Care throughout 2007 examined the pathogenesis, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of sepsis and multiorgan failure. The present review summarizes the findings and implications of the papers published on sepsis and multiorgan failure and places the research in the context of other work in the field.

Year in review in Critical Care, 2004: sepsis and multi-organ failure

Mortality rates in pediatric septic shock with and without multiple organ system failure.

OBJECTIVES To determine the current mortality rates for pediatric patients with septic shock and the frequency and outcome of associated multiple organ system failure. DESIGN Retrospective chart review. SETTING Multidisciplinary pediatric intensive care unit. PATIENTS Children age 1 month to 21 yrs admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit from January 1, 1998, to December 31, 1999, w...

Bench-to-bedside review: Endothelial cell dysfunction in severe sepsis: a role in organ dysfunction?

During the past decade a unifying hypothesis has been developed to explain the vascular changes that occur in septic shock on the basis of the effect of inflammatory mediators on the vascular endothelium. The vascular endothelium plays a central role in the control of microvascular flow, and it has been proposed that widespread vascular endothelial activation, dysfunction and eventually injury ...

Early venovenous haemodiafiltration for sepsis-related multiple organ failure

In a prospective observational study that included 60 consecutive patients over a 10-year period, Page and coworkers [1] studied the effects of early continuous venovenous haemodiafiltration (CVVHDF) during sepsis-induced multiple organ failure. In two-thirds of the patients rapid metabolic improvement during CVVHDF was associated with circulatory improvement and a low mortality rate, whereas l...