Value of hemophagocytosis in the diagnosis of hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis in critically ill patients.

Background: Ferritin is an established biomarker in the diagnosis of secondary hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), which is diagnosed by the HLH-2004 criteria. Among these criteria, detection of hemophagocytosis through invasive procedures may delay early life saving treatment. Our aim was to investigate the value of hemophagocytosis in diagnosing HLH in critically ill patients.

Preoperative hypoalbuminaemia in liver surgery: an observational study at a university medical centre.

Objectives: Preoperative hypoalbuminaemia is associated with adverse outcome, including increased postoperative mortality in cardiovascular surgery, neurosurgery, trauma and orthopaedic surgery. However, much less is known about the association between preoperative serum albumin and clinical outcomes after liver surgery. In this study, we sought to determine whether hypoalbuminaemia before partial hepatectomy is associated with a worse postoperative outcome.

Differential Diagnosis of Hyperferritinemia in Critically Ill Patients.

Background: Elevated serum ferritin is a common condition in critically ill patients. It is well known that hyperferritinemia constitutes a good biomarker for hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) in critically ill patients. However, further differential diagnoses of hyperferritinemia in adult critically ill patients remain poorly investigated.

Interleukin 8 in postoperative delirium - Preliminary findings from two studies.

Objective: Studies have suggested that inflammation contributes to the pathogenesis of postoperative delirium, but previous results on the proinflammatory cytokine IL-8 in plasma are contradictory. Additionally, a significant fraction of IL-8 is bound to erythrocytes, but the relevance of whole blood IL-8 in delirium has not been studied. In this work, we analyzed the association of postoperative delirium with levels of unbound IL-8 in plasma and levels of IL-8 in whole blood in patients from two studies which were conducted in our department and have not been presented previously.