Clinical Characteristics and In-Hospital Mortality of Cardiac Arrest Survivors in Brazil: A Large Retrospective Multicenter Cohort Study.

Objectives: Data on cardiac arrest survivors from developing countries are scarce. This study investigated clinical characteristics associated with in-hospital mortality in resuscitated patients following cardiac arrest in Brazil.

Design: Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data.

Elderly patients with cancer admitted to intensive care unit: A multicenter study in a middle-income country.

Background: Very elderly critically ill patients (ie, those older than 75 or 80 years) are an increasing population in intensive care units. However, patients with cancer have encompassed only a minority in epidemiological studies of very old critically-ill patients. We aimed to describe clinical characteristics and identify factors associated with hospital mortality in a cohort of patients aged 80 or older with cancer admitted to intensive care units (ICUs).

Characteristics and short-term outcomes of patients with esophageal cancer with unplanned intensive care unit admissions: a retrospective cohort study.

Objective: To depict the clinical presentation and outcomes of a cohort of critically ill patients with esophageal cancer.

Methods: We carried out a multicenter retrospective study that included patients with esophageal cancer admitted to intensive care units with acute illness between September 2009 and December 2017. We collected the demographic and clinical characteristics of all included patients, as well as organ-support measures and hospital outcomes.

Quality assessment of adult intensive care services: application of a tool adjusted to the reality of low-income countries.

Objective: To assess the quality of adult intensive care units.

Methods: This population-based, cross-sectional, observational, analytical study evaluated management type in Maranhão, Brazil. An assessment instrument was applied that assigned scores to each service (maximum 124 points).

Quality in intensive care units: proposal of an assessment instrument.

Background: There is an increasing need for standardized instruments for quality assessment that are able to reflect the actual conditions of the intensive care practices, especially in low and middle-income countries. The aim of this article is to describe the preparation of an instrument for quality assessment of adult intensive care services adapted to the actual conditions of intensive care in a middle-income country and comprising indicators validated in the literature.

Methods: The study consisted of five steps: (1) a literature survey; (2) a discussion with specialists by consensus method; (3) a pilot field test; (4) a description of indicators; and (5) an elaboration of the final version of the instrument.

Severe maternal morbidity: a case-control study in Maranhao, Brazil.

Background: Maternal mortality and morbidity are among the top public health priorities in Brazil, being quite high, especially among the most disadvantage women. A case control study was developed to identify risk factors for severe maternal morbidity in Sao Luis, one of the poorest Brazilian State Capitals.

Methods: The case-control study was carried out between 01/03/2009 and 28/02/2010 in two public high-risk maternities facilities and in two intensive care units (ICUs) for referral of obstetric cases.