Outstanding Clinical Review

Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB) is a perilous nosocomial pathogen causing substantial morbidity and mortality. Current treatment options for CRAB are limited and suffer from pharmacokinetic limitations, such as high toxicity and low plasma levels. As a result, CRAB is declared as the top priority pathogen by the World Health Organization for the investment in new drugs. This urgent need for new therapies, in combination with faster FDA approval process, accelerated new drug development and placed several drug candidates in the pipeline...

BACKGROUND: The incidence of seizures in intensive care units ranges from 3.3% to 34%. It is therefore often necessary to initiate or continue anticonvulsant drugs in this setting. When a new anticonvulsant is initiated, drug factors, such as onset of action and side effects, and patient factors, such as age, renal, and hepatic function, should be taken into account. It is important to note that the altered physiology of critically ill patients as well as pharmacological and nonpharmacological interventions such as renal replacement therapy, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, and target temperature management may lead to therapeutic failure or toxicity...

Takotsubo syndrome (TTS) is a poorly recognized heart disease that was initially regarded as a benign condition. Recently, it has been shown that TTS may be associated with severe clinical complications including death and that its prevalence is probably underestimated. Since current guidelines on TTS are lacking, it appears timely and important to provide an expert consensus statement on TTS. The clinical expert consensus document part I summarizes the current state of knowledge on clinical presentation and characteristics of TTS and agrees on controversies surrounding TTS such as nomenclature, different TTS types, role of coronary artery disease, and etiology...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Sepsis leads to a complex intramyocardial inflammatory response that results in sepsis-induced myocardial dysfunction. Here, recent findings are reviewed in a physiologic context. RECENT FINDINGS: Decreased systolic contractility during sepsis limits ventricular ejection and stroke volume. Initially, this effect is compensated for by increased diastolic filling during volume resuscitation. Reduced afterload due to arterial vasodilation also compensates so that cardiac output can be maintained or increased...

Acute pancreatitis represents a disorder characterized by acute necroinflammatory changes of the pancreas and is histologically characterized by acinar cell destruction. Diagnosed clinically with the Revised Atlanta Criteria, and with alcohol and cholelithiasis/choledocholithiasis as the two most prominent antecedents, acute pancreatitis ranks first amongst gastrointestinal diagnoses requiring admission and 21st amongst all diagnoses requiring hospitalization with estimated costs approximating 2.6 billion dollars annually...

Sepsis is a common condition with high morbidity and mortality. Although many patients may require critical care, this article considers the features of sepsis that are of most relevance to acute general physicians. Recently updated definitions of sepsis and septic shock have been proposed which better identify patients who are likely to have a poor outcome, and therefore give an opportunity to escalate care. Despite these advances, there is still no molecular signature able to diagnose sepsis. Pathogenesis is complex, with many immune and non-immune mediators involved...

OBJECTIVES: Several randomized controlled trials have compared adrenaline (epinephrine) with alternative therapies in patients with cardiac arrest with conflicting results. Recent observational studies suggest that adrenaline might increase return of spontaneous circulation but worsen neurologic outcome. We systematically compared all the vasopressors tested in randomized controlled trials in adult cardiac arrest patients in order to identify the treatment associated with the highest rate of return of spontaneous circulation, survival, and good neurologic outcome...

IMPORTANCE: Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a life-threatening form of respiratory failure that affects approximately 200 000 patients each year in the United States, resulting in nearly 75 000 deaths annually. Globally, ARDS accounts for 10% of intensive care unit admissions, representing more than 3 million patients with ARDS annually. OBJECTIVE: To review advances in diagnosis and treatment of ARDS over the last 5 years. EVIDENCE REVIEW: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews from 2012 to 2017 focusing on randomized clinical trials, meta-analyses, systematic reviews, and clinical practice guidelines...

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a heterogeneous disorder that is common in hospitalized patients and associated with short- and long-term morbidity and mortality. When AKI is present, prompt workup of the underlying cause should be pursued, with specific attention to reversible causes. Measures to prevent AKI include optimization of volume status and avoidance of nephrotoxic medications. Crystalloids are preferred over colloids for most patients, and hydroxyethyl starches should be avoided. Volume overload in the setting of AKI is associated with adverse outcomes, so attention should be paid to overall fluid balance...

RATIONALE: Dexmedetomidine is associated with less delirium than benzodiazepines and better sleep architecture than either benzodiazepines or propofol; its effect on delirium and sleep when administered at night to patients requiring sedation remains unclear. OBJECTIVES: To determine if nocturnal dexmedetomidine prevents delirium and improves sleep in critically ill adults. METHODS: This two-center, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial randomized 100 delirium-free critically ill adults receiving sedatives to receive nocturnal (9:30 p...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

IMPORTANCE: The patient-to-intensivist ratio (PIR) across intensive care units (ICUs) is not standardized and the association of PIR with patient outcome is not well established. Understanding the impact of PIR on outcomes is necessary to optimize senior medical staffing and deliver high-quality care. OBJECTIVE: To test the hypotheses that: (1) there is significant variation in the PIR across ICUs and (2) higher PIRs are associated with higher hospital mortality for ICU patients...

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) has been intensively and continuously studied in various settings, but its mortality is still as high as 30-40 %. For the last 20 years, lung protective strategy has become a standard care for ARDS, but we still do not know the best way to ventilate patients with ARDS. Tidal volume itself does not seem to have an important role to develop ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI), but the driving pressure, which is inspiratory plateau pressure-PEEP, is the most important to predict and affect the outcome of ARDS, though there is no safe limit for the driving pressure...

The administration of intravenous fluids for resuscitation is the most common intervention in acute medicine. There is increasing evidence that the type of fluid may directly affect patient-centred outcomes. There is a lack of evidence that colloids confer clinical benefit over crystalloids and they may be associated with harm. Hydroxyethyl starch preparations are associated with increased mortality and use of renal replacement therapy in critically ill patients, particularly those with sepsis; albumin is associated with increased mortality in patients with severe traumatic brain injury...

Periodic epileptiform discharges (PEDs) are frequently encountered during continuous electroencephalography monitoring in the intensive care unit. Their implications and management are variable and highly dependent on the clinical context. This article is intended for the nonneurologist intensivist, reviews basic terminology and clinical implications (including causes, prognosis, and association with seizures), and suggests an approach to management. Several case vignettes are included to illustrate the clinical variability associated with PEDs...