Poor outcome predictors in status epilepticus

Poor outcome predictors in status epilepticus

Predictors of poor outcomes in patients with status epilepticus admitted to the neurointensive care unit include complex partial status epilepticus, refractory status epilepticus, or the development of nonconvulsive status... read more

Improving the quality of nurse‐influenced patient care in the ICU

Improving the quality of nurse‐influenced patient care in the ICU

Quality of care is a major focus in the intensive care unit (ICU). The nursing-initiated QI project demonstrated improved ICU patient care in relation to early enteral nutrition commencement, DSIs and early and daily mobilizing.... read more

The Role of Intensive Care Registries

The Role of Intensive Care Registries

To develop, implement, evaluate and sustain a quality improvement programme in the ICU is an important and demanding undertaking. The work can be made easier by joining an intensive care registry. Mature registries have resources... read more

Is platelet transfusion associated with hospital-acquired infections in critically ill patients?

Is platelet transfusion associated with hospital-acquired infections in critically ill patients?

After adjustment for confounders, including patient severity and other blood components, platelet transfusion was independently associated with ICU-acquired infection. Further research aiming to better understand this association... read more

A New Organ you didn't know you had: The Mesentery

A New Organ you didn't know you had: The Mesentery

The research of Dr. J. Calvin Coffey, foundation chair of surgery at the University of Limerick, is reclassifying this part of the digestive system as a contiguous organ. In a new study, Coffey has established the anatomy... read more

Hospital ICUs Are Overused

Hospital ICUs Are Overused

A study conducted on ICU admissions at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center states that the hospital’s Intensive Care Units are being overused by non-deserving patients. This revelation is suggesting that the hospital’s most evasive... read more

Metformin Associated with Reduced Mortality in CKD, CHF, and CLD

Metformin Associated with Reduced Mortality in CKD, CHF, and CLD

Metformin is currently the suggested initial treatment for type 2 diabetes mellitus in the United States. In the past, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) did not recommend metformin for patients with chronic kidney... read more

Airway Driving Pressure and Lung Stress in ARDS Patients

Airway Driving Pressure and Lung Stress in ARDS Patients

Since the first description of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in the 1960s, numerous studies have sought the optimal tidal volume, positive end-expiratory pressure, plateau pressure, and inspired fraction of oxygen... read more

New molecular map reveals how cells spew out potassium

New molecular map reveals how cells spew out potassium

New research from The Rockefeller University has determined, for the first time, the complete structure of an ion channel that plays an important role in cellular electrical signaling by sending potassium ions out of the... read more

Patient Achieves Remission With CAR-T Cell Therapy for Aggressive Brain Tumors

Patient Achieves Remission With CAR-T Cell Therapy for Aggressive Brain Tumors

A case study published in the December 29 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine outlines the results of a patient treated with his own genetically modified CAR-T cells, using central memory T cells, a stem-cell-like... read more

Triple therapy for influenza with naproxen, clarithromycin, and oseltamavir?

Triple therapy for influenza with naproxen, clarithromycin, and oseltamavir?

Antiviral therapy for influenza is a sore subject. Oseltamavir was initially felt to be a silver bullet. Unfortunately, it turned out that its efficacy was overblown by publication bias. Discordance between guidelines, practice,... read more

ECG Accuracy Raised by Placement of Electrode Patch

ECG Accuracy Raised by Placement of Electrode Patch

A single-use patch that ensures the uniform placement of electrocardiogram (ECG) leads cuts down on inaccuracies and saves time. A new study to evaluate CQP placement found a significant difference between the minimum time... read more

Antibiotic Resistance just became more complex

Antibiotic Resistance just became more complex

Bacteria that are susceptible to antibiotics can survive when enough resistant cells around them are expressing an antibiotic-deactivating factor. This new take on how the microbial context can compromise antibiotic therapy.... read more

Normal Saline as Resuscitation Fluid in Critically Ill

Normal Saline as Resuscitation Fluid in Critically Ill

The study of Van Regenmortel et al. indirectly underscores growing equipoise in the expert medical community regarding the presumed harmful effects of NS compared with balanced crystalloids. Future studies, such as the ongoing... read more

Pain Sensitivity Plays a Role in Unrecognized Myocardial Infarction

Pain Sensitivity Plays a Role in Unrecognized Myocardial Infarction

People who experience unrecognized or silent myocardial infarction may have reduced pain sensitivity compared with those whose Myocardial Infarction is noticed, according to the results of a study recently published online... read more

Meta-Analysis of Therapeutic Hypothermia for Traumatic Brain Injury

Meta-Analysis of Therapeutic Hypothermia for Traumatic Brain Injury

Therapeutic hypothermia is likely a beneficial treatment following traumatic brain injuries in adults but cannot be recommended in children.... read more

Professor Wins Outstanding Investigator Award for Lung Disease Antioxidant Studies

Professor Wins Outstanding Investigator Award for Lung Disease Antioxidant Studies

The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) has named the recipient of its inaugural Outstanding Investigator Award: Yvonne Janssen-Heininger, PhD, professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at the Larner College... read more