OBJECTIVES To critically evaluate and summarize identified evidence for the use of ultrasound to measure peripheral skeletal muscle architecture during critical illness. DATA SOURCES Seven electronic databases (Medline, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Cochrane Library, Physiotherapy Evidence Database, Scopus, Excerpta Medica Database, and Web of Science [including Sc...

Mortality is still the most assessed outcome in the critically ill patient and is routinely used as the primary end-point in intervention trials, cohort studies, and benchmarking analysis. Despite this, interest in patient-centered prognosis after ICU discharge is increasing, and several studies report quality of life and long-term outcomes after critical illness. In a recent issue of Critical ...

OBJECTIVE To describe the presentation, course, and outcome of critically ill children with novel H1N1 influenza disease. DESIGN Retrospective case series. SETTING Pediatric intensive care unit in an urban tertiary academic center. PATIENTS Thirteen consecutive patients admitted between June 2009 and August 2009 and known or subsequently found to be infected with novel H1N1 influenza A. ...

OBJECTIVE To detail the physiology, pathophysiology and recent advances in diagnostic analysis of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in critical illness, and briefly review the pharmacokinetics and pharmaco-dynamics of drugs in the CSF when administered by the intravenous and intrathecal route. DATA SOURCES A review of articles published in peer reviewed journals from 1966 to 1999 and identified throu...

OBJECTIVE Disturbed intestinal barrier function due to 'leaky' tight junctions may cause secondary sepsis via paracellular translocation across the gut wall. Our objective was to describe the effects of critical illness on duodenal morphology and ultrastructure. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS Prospective observational study of 12 mechanically ventilated critically ill patients in an intensi...

Missed diagnoses in general practice are inevitable. No diagnostic test or clinical decision rule in general practice is 100% sensitive. This is largely because individuals, both children and adults, present at different stages in the evolution of their illness. At an early stage classic 'red-flag' features of serious illness may be absent; for example, half the cases of meningococcal disease i...

Adrenal insufficiency means hypo function of the adrenal cortex, usually resulting in low glucocorticoid level and it may be associated with low mineralocorticoid, rarely low adrenal androgen level. It can be categorized into two types: primary and secondary. Primary adrenal insufficiency or Addison's disease is associated with low cortisol and high ACTH level. Secondary/tertiary adrenal insuff...

OBJECTIVE To review how disability can develop in older adults with critical illness and to explore ways to reduce long-term disability following critical illness. DATA SOURCES We searched PubMed, CINAHL, Web of Science and Google Scholar for studies reporting disability outcomes (i.e., activities of daily living, instrumental activities of daily living, and mobility activities) and/or cognit...

Dropout is a common problem in the treatment of psychiatric illnesses including bipolar disorders (BD). The aim of the present study is to investigate illness perceptions of dropout patients with BD. A cross sectional study was done on the participants who attended the Mood Disorder Outpatient Clinic at least 3 times from January 2003 through June 2008, and then failed to attend clinic till to ...

OBJECTIVE To examine the long term survival of critically ill patients admitted to an intensive therapy unit and to ascertain the effects of age, severity of illness, and diagnostic category at admission on survival. DESIGN Retrospective observational study with prospectively gathered data on all patients admitted to the unit between June 1985 and July 1987 and followed up until 1 January 198...