Organizational characteristics, outcomes, and resource use in 78 Brazilian intensive care units: the ORCHESTRA study.

Purpose: Detailed information on organization and process of care in intensive care units (ICU) in emerging countries is scarce. Here, we investigated the impact of organizational factors on the outcomes and resource use in a large sample of Brazilian ICUs.

Methods: Retrospective cohort study of 59,693 patients (medical admissions, 67 %) admitted to 78 ICUs during 2013.

SAPS 3, APACHE IV or GRACE: which score to choose for acute coronary syndrome patients in intensive care units?

CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE Acute coronary syndromes (ACS) are a common cause of intensive care unit (ICU) admission. Specific prognostic scores have been developed and validated for ACS patients and, among them, GRACE (Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events) has had the best performance. However, intensive care clinicians generally use prognostic scores developed from heterogeneous populations of critically ill patients, such as APACHE IV (Acute Physiologic and Chronic Health Evaluation IV) and SAPS 3 (Simplified Acute Physiology Score 3).

Caution when using prognostic models: a prospective comparison of 3 recent prognostic models.

Purpose: Prognostic models have been developed to estimate mortality and to compare outcomes in different intensive care units. However, these models need to be validated before their use in different populations. In this study, we assessed the performance of 3 recently developed general prognostic models (Acute Physiologic and Chronic Health Evaluation [APACHE] IV, Simplified Acute Physiology Score [SAPS] 3 and Mortality Probability Model III [MPM(0)-III]) in a population admitted at 3 medical-surgical Brazilian intensive care units.

Influenza A (H1N1) patients admitted to intensive care units during the 2009 pandemics: clinical features and outcomes.

Objectives: To describe the clinical features and outcomes of patients admitted with influenza A (H1N1) infection in two private hospitals' intensive care units in São Paulo, Brazil, during the 2009 pandemics.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted to evaluate demographic data, initial clinical presentation, prognostic scores [Simplified Acute Physiology Score (SAPS) 3 and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA)], comorbidities, outcomes and treatment of patients with confirmed pandemic influenza diagnosis from July to September 2009.

Results: 22 patients were admitted.

Survey on physicians' knowledge of sepsis: do they recognize it promptly?

Purpose: In Brazil, sepsis has a high mortality; and early recognition is essential in outcome. The aim of the study was to evaluate physicians' knowledge about systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), sepsis, severe sepsis, and septic shock concepts.

Methods: This was a prospective, observational study performed in 21 hospitals in Brazil, which enrolled physicians working in the participant institutions.