Quantification of Frailty Syndrome in ICU Patients with Clinical Frailty Scale.

Quantification of frailty is useful both for understanding the nature of the syndrome and for designing an ICU care plan for patients that suffer from it. Knowing the needs and deficits of each patient individually, it is possible to create a care plan suitable to cover all the patients' needs. Tools used to date to quantify frailty syndrome are the Fried phenotype, Frailty index, Edmonton Frailty Scale, and Clinical Frailty Scale.

Frailty in elderly ICU patients in Greece: a prospective, observational study.

Background: Of particular interest is the study of frailty syndrome in older patients in recent years. This syndrome is characterized by weight loss and muscle mass, a change in eating habits, movement and endurance, and a decline in cognitive function. The purpose of the study was the prevalence of frailty syndrome in subjects aged 65 years who were hospitalized in an intensive care unit (ICU) in Greece.

Cardiovascular ultrasonography detection of embolic sources in trauma.

Venous thromboembolism (deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism) and bone cement implantation syndrome are major sources of embolic events in trauma patients. In these patients, embolic events due to venous thromboembolism and bone cement implantation syndrome have been detected with cardiac and vascular ultrasonography in the emergency setting, during the perioperative period, and in the intensive care unit. This article discusses the ultrasonography modalities and imaging findings of embolic events related to venous thromboembolism and bone cement implantation syndrome.

Effect of functional electrical stimulation on cardiovascular outcomes in patients with chronic heart failure.

Background/design Functional electrical stimulation of lower limb muscles is an alternative method of training in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). Although it improves exercise capacity in CHF, we performed a randomised, placebo-controlled study to investigate its effects on long-term clinical outcomes. Methods We randomly assigned 120 patients, aged 71 ± 8 years, with stable CHF (New York Heart Association (NYHA) class II/III (63%/37%), mean left ventricular ejection fraction 28 ± 5%), to either a 6-week functional electrical stimulation training programme or placebo.

Ultrasound in cardiac trauma.

In the perioperative period, the emergency department or the intensive care unit accurate assessment of variable chest pain requires meticulous knowledge, diagnostic skills, and suitable usage of various diagnostic modalities. In addition, in polytrauma patients, cardiac injury including aortic dissection, pulmonary embolism, acute myocardial infarction, and pericardial effusion should be immediately revealed and treated. In these patients, arrhythmias, mainly tachycardia, cardiac murmurs, or hypotension must alert physicians to suspect cardiovascular trauma, which would potentially be life threatening.

Reversible posterior leukoencephalopathy syndrome and takotsubo cardiomyopathy: the role of echocardiographic monitoring in the ICU.

We report a case of a female patient with acute renal failure due to polyarteritis nodosa. Her clinical course was initially complicated by an unusual form of hypertensive encephalopathy called reversible posterior leukoencephalopathy syndrome (RPLS). Soon afterwards she developed cardiogenic shock; she was intubated and admitted to our ICU.

Transesophageal echocardiography and vascular ultrasound in the diagnosis of catheter-related persistent left superior vena cava thrombosis.

We refer to a very rare case of catheter-related thrombosis in a trauma patient with persistent left and absent right superior vena cava. The role of ultrasound examination in the early diagnosis and treatment of thrombosis in the setting of intensive care unit (ICU) is thoroughly discussed. A 30-year-old man was admitted to the ICU due to multiple trauma.

Traumatic dissection of the left circumflex artery after a fall from height.

The authors present the case of a healthy 40-year-old man who developed a myocardial infarction because of traumatic dissection of the left circumflex coronary artery following a fall from height. To our knowledge, this is the first time that a traumatic lesion of the left circumflex artery is being reported after a fall.

Adult brain abscess associated with patent foramen ovale: a case report.

Brain abscess results from local or metastatic septic spread to the brain. The primary infectious site is often undetected, more commonly so when it is distant. Unlike pediatric congenital heart disease, minor intracardiac right-to-left shunting due to patent foramen ovale has not been appreciated as a cause of brain abscess in adults.