Passive Detection of Atrial Fibrillation Using a Commercially Available Smartwatch
In this author interview, Gregory M. Marcus, MD, MAS discusses passive detection of Atrial Fibrillation using a commercially available smartwatch.... read more
Ten Shortcomings of the Current Definition of AKI
Acute kidney injury (AKI) is defined as an abrupt decline in kidney function. Although the kidney has many functions, this "abrupt decline" mostly refers to the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) that cannot... read more
Sepsis patients treated and released from emergency departments do well with outpatient follow-up
National guidelines assume that all patients who're diagnosed with clinical sepsis in an emergency department will be admitted to the hospital for additional care, but new research has found that many more patients are being... read more
Early Noninvasive Ventilation and Nonroutine Transfusion for Acute Chest Syndrome in Sickle Cell Disease in Children
Early noninvasive ventilation combined with nonroutine transfusion is well tolerated in acute chest syndrome in children and may spare transfusion in some patients. Early recognition of patients still requiring transfusion... read more
Dr. Ultrasound and Mr. Hyde: my confessions as an educator and ICU geek
I think most people in our field have had some or all of these thoughts. I feel guilty thinking them and certainly have a hard time verbalizing to other team members. Point of Care Ultrasound (POCUS) has swept the medical... read more
Hot Lights, Cold Steel: Life, Death and Sleepless Nights in a Surgeon’s First Years
This story of Collins' four-year surgical residency traces his rise from an eager but clueless first-year resident to accomplished Chief Resident in his final year. With unparalleled humor, he recounts the disparity between... read more
The use of echocardiographic indices in defining and assessing right ventricular systolic function in critical care research
TAPSE seemed to be the most popular index in the last 2–3 years. Many studies used combinations of indices but, apart from cor pulmonale, we could not find a consistent pattern of RV assessment and definition of RV dysfunction... read more
Medicaid Expansion Associated with Decline in ICU Stays
Medicaid expansion was associated with an early increase in insurance rates among hospitalized patients and a decline in ICU utilization rates among patients hospitalized with ACSCs. Further work is needed to explore whether... read more
Using an ETAD for Traction During a Variceal Tamponade
Here is a demonstration of the Scott Weingart, MD method, where the use of a second ETAD is applied for maintaining traction during a variceal tamponade. Presented by Jess Mason, MD.... read more
Getting Creative with Ketamine
Versatile and safe, Ketamine can help with sedation, induction, asthma and pain. Can a shot of it even treat suicidality? New indications for Ketamine seem to be popping up every day. Its primary ED use is for procedural... read more
Pushing Pressors in the Periphery
The mantra of the Broome Docs site is "bringing great care, out there." And today's topic goes right to the heart of that theme. It is one of my pet topics – so apologies in advance if the rant is too long or detailed.... read more
Incidence of hypotension according to the discontinuation order of vasopressors in the management of septic shock
Tapering NE rather than AVP may be associated with a higher incidence of hypotension in patients recovering from septic shock who are on concomitant NE and AVP. However, further studies with larger sample sizes are required... read more
The burdens of survivorship: an approach to thinking about long-term outcomes after critical illness
Internationally accepted approaches to the study of functioning and disability can inform critical care practitioners and scholars in their study of functional limitations, disability, and quality of life after critical illness... read more
Vasopressors for Hypotensive Shock
This review seeks unbiased evidence about the effects of different drugs that enhance blood pressure on risk of dying in critically ill patients with impaired blood circulation. Review authors identified 28 randomized controlled... read more
Genomics and Pharmacogenomics of Sepsis: So Close and Yet So Far
Sapru et al. show in this issue of Critical Care that variants of thrombomodulin and the endothelial protein C receptor, but not protein C, are associated with mortality and organ dysfunction (ventilation-free and organ failure-free... read more
Assessment of Clinical Criteria for Sepsis
The Third International Consensus Definitions Task Force defined sepsis as "life-threatening organ dysfunction due to a dysregulated host response to infection." The performance of clinical criteria for this sepsis definition... read more
The Ten Pitfalls of Lactate Clearance in Sepsis
Clearance is the removal of a substance from blood, expressed as a volume (milliliters) over time (minutes). However, changes in lactate levels are the sum of ongoing production and removal from the blood by excretion (e.g.,... read more
Low-dose Corticosteroids for Adult Patients with Septic Shock
The results of this systematic review provide an evidence summary to inform clinicians regarding decisions to use corticosteroids in adult patients with septic shock. We found that assignment to treatment with corticosteroids... read more
Noninvasive Retinal Analysis for Cardiovascular Profiling of Patients with COPD
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a complex disease with many patients suffering from cardiovascular comorbidity. However, cardiovascular diseases remain often undiagnosed in COPD. Assessment of the retinal... read more
Clinical Chronobiology: A Timely Consideration in Critical Care Medicine
Circadian rhythms are currently low on the list of physiological priorities during ICU ward rounds. We have argued that recognition of the influence of this universally important system, and adoption of chronobiological strategies,... read more
A Basic Approach to Treating Various Types of Hypoxia
The use of supplemental oxygen is of no value when treating stagnant and histotoxic hypoxia because the problem is due to impaired cardiac function and cell enzyme inhibition respectfully. Supplemental oxygen is of little... read more
Metabolic Profiles in Community-Acquired Pneumonia
This study demonstrates that serum metabolomics approaches based on the LC-MS/MS platform can be applied as a tool to reveal metabolic changes during CAP and establish a metabolite signature related to disease severity. The... read more
