Intensive Care News and Research

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Sensor warns of gastrointestinal problems

Dutch researcher Sebastiaan Herber has developed a sensor which can detect poor blood circulation in the stomach. A high level of carbon dioxide in the stomach is a characteristic of this so-called gastrointestinal ischaemia. By measuring this concentration the sensor can indicate how good or bad the circulation in the stomach wall is.

17 May 2005

Abnormal heart scans predict higher risks for African-Americans and Hispanics

SPECT imaging scans show that abnormalities in blood flow to the muscle of the heart indicate higher cardiovascular disease risk in African-Americans and Hispanics than similar abnormalities in white patients, according to a new study (PDF) in the May 3, 2005, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

4 May 2005

Quintuplets born to surrogate mother

In what is believed to be a world first, a surrogate mother has given birth to quintuplets.

26 Apr 2005

Patient with rare liver condition second ever to survive liver transplant after pregnancy

For Billi Tierney, 30, National Donate Life Month in April has a profound meaning. The first-time mother of Sycamore, Ill., was awaiting anxiously the arrival of her first baby. But she never thought that complications from her pregnancy were going to lead to a week in coma and the urgent need for a liver transplant. Tierney suffered from acute liver fatty of pregnancy, a rare, but serious condition of pregnancy in which there is an excessive accumulation of fat in the liver or liver cells.

23 Apr 2005

Rare surgery performed to remove pancreas, prevent diabetes and ease pain of chronic pancreatitis

In a 12-hour, dual-stage surgery known to be performed at only two other centers in the U.S., doctors at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) on Tuesday returned a patient's own insulin-producing cells to him after surgically removing his pancreas to eliminate constant, severe pain from chronic pancreatitis.

22 Apr 2005

E.Sakazakii Meningitis to become a notifiable disease

A potentially fatal form of meningitis in premature babies linked to contaminated milk powder should be made a notifiable disease according to a report released today.

5 Apr 2005

Pediatric burn victims’ recovery, diabetes aided by Fenofibrate

One of the immediate serious results of sudden extreme trauma or stress, including burns and even surgery, is insulin resistance, or diabetes. As a result, healing is delayed, especially in the case of severe burns, and since the body is unable to fully use blood sugar for energy, muscle tissue is broken down as the body scavenges for other possible energy sources.

3 Apr 2005

Novel protein marker for early diagnosis of kidney failure

Researchers have found a novel protein marker that can give a rapid and early diagnosis of kidney failure in children undergoing heart surgery, reporting their results in this week’s issue of The Lancet.

3 Apr 2005

Bacteria's rising threat studied

Infectious diseases researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center are noticing a significant increase in the number of infections due to Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA), and the number of asymptomatic individuals who harbor the organism in their bodies.

29 Mar 2005

Drug-resistant bacteria MRSA a growing threat

Infectious diseases researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center are noticing a significant increase in the number of infections due to Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) and the number of asymptomatic individuals who harbor the organism in their bodies.

21 Mar 2005

Genomic analysis may one day be a primary diagnostic tool for physicians deciding on a course of treatment for trauma

The researchers showed that state-of-the-art techniques for rapidly analyzing changes in activity of all human genes will likely produce useful insights into the health of critically ill patients. The findings, which are available online and will be published in the March 29 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, make it possible for physicians to begin answering important questions about critical care through genomic analysis.

21 Mar 2005

Obtaining patient consent for clinical audit is unworkable

Obtaining signed patient consent for audit purposes is difficult and is unlikely to be successful unless extra resources are made available, finds a study published online by the BMJ.

21 Mar 2005

Mountaineering doctors hike medicine to new heights with Xtreme Everest

Doctors working at the edge of extreme are set to climb the world’s tallest mountain to look death in the face – and take its pulse. The medical research team will make the first ever measurements of blood oxygen in the ‘death zone’, at altitudes above 8,000 metres where the human body has struggled - and frequently failed - to survive.

16 Mar 2005

Cigarette smoke worsens respiratory infections in infants

Studying Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) to learn what puts children at risk for the most severe infections, Washington University researchers at St. Louis Children's Hospital found that a child's age at the time of infection and whether that child lives with a smoker could mean the difference between the sniffles and the intensive care unit.

8 Mar 2005

Genetic examinations of trauma, burn victims produce consistent results

A genetic tool with the potential to identify which trauma and burn patients are most likely to become seriously ill has worked consistently in a wide range of experimental clinical settings - an important hurdle to overcome before the method is routinely used in emergency rooms and intensive care units.

7 Mar 2005

Baby with two heads survives surgery

Because of a very rare birth defect known as craniopagus parasiticus, little Manar Maged was born attached skull-to-skull to the head of an undeveloped twin.

7 Mar 2005

Pitt researcher presents findings on when to accept organ transplants

A transplant is the only option for someone with end-stage liver disease, but patients face difficult questions when choosing the best time to receive a transplant.

20 Feb 2005

Bioartificial kidney containing billions of donor kidney cells under study at the Medical College of Georgia

Whether a bioartificial kidney containing billions of donor kidney cells will help intensive care patients with kidney failure survive is under study at the Medical College of Georgia.

31 Jan 2005

Newly discovered virus, New Haven coronavirus

A newly discovered virus may be responsible for many respiratory tract illnesses in infants and children, and may be associated with an important multi-organ disease whose cause has remained a mystery for decades, according to articles in the Feb. 15 issue of The Journal of Infectious Diseases, now available online.

19 Jan 2005

High rate of disability in extremely premature babies, new research results reveal

The follow-up results of a major study into babies born extremely prematurely have revealed that a high number of these children have a disability, although the levels of severity vary widely.

10 Jan 2005