Publications (106) View all
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Article: High-flow nasal cannula oxygen therapy in the emergency department: welcome, but selection should be the first step.
Respiratory care 05/2013; 58(5):e66-8. · 2.01 Impact Factor -
Article: Occult Pulmonary Embolism in Intensive Care Unit Patients Undergoing Chest Computed Tomography Scan: Incidence and Effect on Outcomes.
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ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVE: To determine the incidence of occult pulmonary embolism (PE) and the associated morbidity in an intensive care unit (ICU). DESIGN: Retrospective study. SETTING: Fifteen-bed ICU of a university hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Two hundred patients who underwent chest computed tomography (CT) scans with administration of contrast. INTERVENTIONS: The patients were classified into 3 groups: (1) Occult PE if the chest CT scan was not taken, specifically for elucidating the diagnosis of PE, but it confirmed this diagnosis; (2) non-occult PE if the chest CT scan was taken to elucidate a suspected diagnosis of PE and confirmed this diagnosis; and (3) the chest CT scan did not confirm this diagnosis. The analysis was conducted to identify the effect of a diagnosis of occult PE on the outcomes of patients. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Among the 200 patients who underwent chest CT scan, 27 (13%) patients had PE, in whom 18 (9%) were classified as occult PE and 9 (4.5%) as non-occult PE. The duration of ICU stay was increased in patients with PE, as compared with the controls (23 [18-48] days v 17 [10-20] days v 14 [7-29] days; p = 0.02 for occult PE, non-occult PE, and controls, respectively). No difference was observed in mortality rate among the 3 groups. CONCLUSION: Occult PE was found in 9% of the cohort. This emphasized the need for developing diagnostic strategies in high-risk patients. Future studies should aim at assessing interventions for preventing this event.Journal of cardiothoracic and vascular anesthesia 04/2013; · 1.06 Impact Factor -
Article: Serologic prevalence of amoeba-associated microorganisms in intensive care unit pneumonia patients.
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ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Patients admitted to intensive care units are frequently exposed to pathogenic microorganisms present in their environment. Exposure to these microbes may lead to the development of hospital-acquired infections that complicate the illness and may be fatal. Amoeba-associated microorganisms (AAMs) are frequently isolated from hospital water networks and are reported to be associated to cases of community and hospital-acquired pneumonia. METHODOLOGYPRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We used a multiplexed immunofluorescence assay to test for the presence of antibodies against AAMs in sera of intensive care unit (ICU) pneumonia patients and compared to patients at the admission to the ICU (controls). Our results show that some AAMs may be more frequently detected in patients who had hospital-acquired pneumonia than in controls, whereas other AAMs are ubiquitously detected. However, ICU patients seem to exhibit increasing immune response to AAMs when the ICU stay is prolonged. Moreover, concomitant antibodies responses against seven different microorganisms (5 , , and Mimivirus) were observed in the serum of patients that had a prolonged ICU stay. CONCLUSIONSSIGNIFICANCE: Our work partially confirms the results of previous studies, which show that ICU patients would be exposed to water amoeba-associated microorganisms, and provides information about the magnitude of AAM infection in ICU patients, especially patients that have a prolonged ICU stay. However, the incidence of this exposure on the development of pneumonia remains to assess.PLoS ONE 01/2013; 8(3):e58111. · 4.09 Impact Factor -
Article: Prediction of fluid responsiveness in severe preeclamptic patients with oliguria.
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ABSTRACT: PURPOSE: Because severe preeclampsia (SP) may be associated with acute pulmonary oedema, fluid responsiveness needs to be accurately predicted. Passive leg raising (PLR) predicts fluid responsiveness. PLR has never been reported during pregnancy. Our first aim was to determine the percentage of SP patients with oliguria increasing their stroke volume after fluid challenge. Our second aim was to assess the accuracy of PLR to predict fluid responsiveness in those patients. METHODS: Patients with SP were prospectively included in the study. In the subgroup developing oliguria, transthoracic echocardiography was performed at baseline, during PLR and after a 500 ml fluid infusion over 15 min. Fluid responders were defined by a 15 % increase of stroke volume index. Five consecutive measurements were averaged for all parameters. RESULTS: Twenty-three (56 %) out of 41 patients with SP developed oliguria, 12 (52 %) out of these 23 responded to fluid challenge. During PLR, an increase of the velocity time integral of subaortic blood flow (ΔVTI) above 12 % predicted the response with a sensitivity and specificity of 75 [95 % confident interval (CI): 0.42-0.95] and 100 % (95 % CI: 0.72-1.00), respectively. An algorithm combining ΔVTI and the baseline value of VTI predicted fluid responsiveness with a sensitivity and specificity of 100 % (95 % CI: 0.74-1.00) and (95 % CI: 0.75-1.00). Urine output and respiratory variations of inferior vena cava diameter did not predict fluid responsiveness. CONCLUSIONS: Only 52 % of oliguric patients were responders. PLR accurately predicts fluid responsiveness in the specific setting of SP. This noninvasive test should be tested in future algorithms for the management of SP.European Journal of Intensive Care Medicine 12/2012; · 5.17 Impact Factor -
Article: Hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF1α) gene expression in human shock states.
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ABSTRACT: INTRODUCTION: Hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF1) controls the expression of genes involved in the cellular response to hypoxia. No information is available on its expression in critically ill patients. Thus, we designed the first clinical study in order to evaluate the role of HIF1α as a prognosis marker in patients suffering from shock. METHODS: Fifty consecutive adult patients with shock and 11 healthy volunteers were prospectively enrolled in the study. RNA was extracted from whole blood samples and expression of HIF1α was assessed over the first four hours of shock. The primary objective was to assess HIF1α as a prognostic marker in shock. Secondary objectives were to evaluate the role of HIF1α as a diagnostic and follow-up marker. Patient survival was evaluated at day 28. RESULTS: The causes of shock were sepsis (78%), hemorrhage (18%), and cardiac dysfunction (4%). HIF1α expression was significantly higher in the shock patients than in the healthy volunteers (121 (range: 72-168) versus 48 (range: 38-54) normalized copies, P <0.01), whatever the measured isoforms. It was similar in non-survivors and survivors (108 (range 84-183) versus 121(range 72-185) normalized copies, P = 0.92), and did not significantly change within the study period. CONCLUSIONS: The present study is the first to demonstrate an increased expression of HIF1α in patients with shock. Further studies are needed to clarify the potential association with outcome. Our findings reinforce the value of monitoring plasma lactate levels to guide the treatment of shock.Critical care (London, England) 07/2012; 16(4):R120. · 4.61 Impact Factor
