Assessing physicians' and nurses' experience of dying and death in the ICU: development of the CAESAR-P and the CAESAR-N instruments.

Background: As an increasing number of deaths occur in the intensive care unit (ICU), studies have sought to describe, understand, and improve end-of-life care in this setting. Most of these studies are centered on the patient's and/or the relatives' experience. Our study aimed to develop an instrument designed to assess the experience of physicians and nurses of patients who died in the ICU, using a mixed methodology and validated in a prospective multicenter study.

CAESAR: a new tool to assess relatives' experience of dying and death in the ICU.

Purpose: To develop an instrument designed specifically to assess the experience of relatives of patients who die in the intensive care unit (ICU).

Methods: The instrument was developed using a mixed methodology and validated in a prospective multicentre study. Relatives of patients who died in 41 ICUs completed the questionnaire by telephone 21 days after the death, then completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Impact of Event Scale-Revised and Inventory of Complicated Grief after 3, 6, and 12 months.

Infective endocarditis requiring ICU admission: epidemiology and prognosis.

Background: Very few studies focused on patients with severe infective endocarditis (IE) and multiple complications leading to Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admission. Studied primary outcomes depended on the series and multiple prognostic factors have been identified. Our goal was to determinate characteristics of patients, in-hospital mortality and independent prognostic factors in an overall population of patients admitted to ICU for a left-sided, definite, active and severe IE.

Vascular and Microvascular Endothelial Function in Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction.

Background: Assessment of vascular endothelial function lacks consistency, and microvascular endothelial function has been only partly assessed in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF).

Methods: The study population consisted of 90 patients: 45 had well documented HFpEF, and 45 had hypertension and no history or evidence of heart failure. Patients with hypertension but no heart failure were matched with HFpEF patients for age, sex, and diabetes.

Complicated grief after death of a relative in the intensive care unit.

An increased proportion of deaths occur in the intensive care unit (ICU). We performed this prospective study in 41 ICUs to determine the prevalence and determinants of complicated grief after death of a loved one in the ICU. Relatives of 475 adult patients were followed up.