BACKGROUND Critically ill patients admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) are thought to gain an added survival benefit from management by critical care physicians, but evidence of this benefit is scant. OBJECTIVE To examine the association between hospital mortality in critically ill patients and management by critical care physicians. DESIGN Retrospective analysis of a large, prospective...

OBJECTIVE Survival from acute coronary syndromes and major trauma has been shown to depend on timely access to definitive treatment. We sought to identify the significance of intensive care unit (ICU) admission delay (lead-time) on the outcome of critically-ill medical patients with other diagnoses. METHODS From 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2003, a prospective cohort study was performed in c...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW Adrenal insufficiency is being diagnosed with increasing frequency in critically ill patients. There exists, however, much controversy in the literature as to the nature of this entity, including its pathophysiology, epidemiology, diagnosis and treatment. The review summarizes our current understanding of the causes and consequences of adrenal insufficiency in critically ill p...

INTRODUCTION Ghrelin has been recently identified as a mediator of various beneficial effects in animal models of sepsis. At present, no data are available concerning specific properties of ghrelin in critically ill patients from large cohorts. In order to identify possible pathogenic functions of ghrelin in critically ill patients and human sepsis from a clinical point of view, we aimed at ana...

OBJECTIVE To review the metabolic encephalopathies and neuromuscular abnormalities commonly found in the critically ill patient in a two-part presentation. DATA SOURCES A review of articles reported from 1980 to 2002 and identified through a MEDLINE search on metabolic encephalopathy, polyneuropathy and myopathy in critical illness. SUMMARY OF REVIEW Severe weaknes in the critically ill pat...

come) may have been biased. A 3 days shorter duration of mechanical ventilation ( p = 0.01) and a 4.1 day shorter hospital stay ( p = 0.005) were also observed with EarlyPN. Mortality was similar in both groups, but hypoglycemia was more frequent with LatePN (9.1%) vs. EarlyPN (4.8%, p = 0.001). The authors conclude that withholding PN for 1 week is advantageous in critically ill children. Base...

Hyperglycemia in hospitalized patients is associated with increased morbidity, mortality, and length of hospital stay. Insulin counteracts the damaging processes caused by hyperglycemia and is therefore a logical choice in treating inpatient hyperglycemia. This article emphasizes the importance of using a physiological (basal-bolus) insulin regimen for noncritically ill hospitalized patients, d...

2011;139;234 Chest Gennaro De Pascale, Claudio Sandroni and Massimo Antonelli Search of the Optimal Dosing Colistin Use in Critically Ill Patients : In http://chestjournal.chestpubs.org/content/139/1/234.1.full.html services can be found online on the World Wide Web at: The online version of this article, along with updated information and ISSN:0012-3692 ) http://chestjournal.chestpubs.org/site...

In intensive care patients parenteral nutrition (PN) should not be carried out when adequate oral or enteral nutrition is possible. Critically ill patients without symptoms of malnutrition, who probably cannot be adequately nourished enterally for a period of <5 days, do not require full PN but should be given at least a basal supply of glucose. Critically ill patients should be nourished paren...