Background Use of a nebulizer facilitates rapid administration of high doses of drug, which is desirable for patients presenting with acute severe asthma. Breath-enhanced jet nebulizers direct the patient’s air flow through the nebulizer handset during inhalation producing aerosol output with a more favorable respirable profile. SideStream Plus (SS+; Philips Respironics) and Nebutech (NB; Salte...

Assessment of the cerebral microcirculation by on-line visualization has been impossible for a long time. Sidestream dark-field (SDF) imaging is a relatively new method allowing direct visualization of cerebral surface layer microcirculation using hand-held probe for direct contact with target tissue. The aim of this study was to elucidate the feasibility of studying the cerebral microcirculati...

Parameters related to macrocirculation, such as the mean arterial pressure, central venous pressure, cardiac output, mixed venous saturation and central oxygen saturation, are commonly used in the hemodynamic assessment of critically ill patients. However, several studies have shown that there is a dissociation between these parameters and the state of microcirculation in this group of patients...

Assessment of the cerebral microcirculation by on-line visualization has been impossible for a long time. Sidestream dark-field (SDF) imaging is a relatively new method allowing direct visualization of cerebral surface layer microcirculation using hand-held probe for direct contact with target tissue. The aim of this study was to elucidate the feasibility of studying the cerebral microcirculati...