Double intussusception secondary to Meckel's diverticulum in a seventeen-year-old female: a case report.

Meckel's diverticulum (MD) is the most common congenital malformation of the gastrointestinal tract. It rarely presents in adults and is usually asymptomatic. Attention to clinical history, examination and imaging studies are crucial for a successful diagnosis.

Intra-abdominal aortic graft infection: prognostic factors associated with in-hospital mortality.

Background: Mortality associated with aortic graft infection is considerable. The gold standard for surgical treatment remains explantation of the graft. However, prognostic factors associated with early mortality due to this surgical procedure are not well-known.

Clinical spectrum and outcome of critically ill patients suffering from prosthetic joint infections.

Purpose: To report the clinical characteristics and prognosis of prosthetic joint infections (PJIs) in Intensive care units (ICUs).

Methods: Forty-one patients consecutively admitted to ICUs for PJIs between January 2004 and June 2011 were included in a retrospective case series.

Results: A majority of patients (73 %) had severe underlying disease.

Outcome and predictors of treatment failure in total hip/knee prosthetic joint infections due to Staphylococcus aureus.

Background: Variables associated with the outcome of patients treated for prosthetic joint infections (PJIs) due to Staphylococcus aureus are not well known.

Methods: The medical records of patients treated surgically for total hip or knee prosthesis infection due to S. aureus were reviewed.

A pilot randomized study comparing high and low volume hemofiltration on vasopressor use in septic shock.

Objective: High volume hemofiltration (HVHF) has shown potential benefits in septic animals and a few reports suggested a hemodynamic improvement in humans. However, randomized studies are still lacking. Our goal was to evaluate the hemodynamic effects of HVHF in septic shock patients with acute renal failure (ARF).

Severe emphysematous pyelonephritis on a horseshoe kidney.

Emphysematous pyelonephritis is an acute bacterial infection responsible for a high mortality. It is characterized by bacterial gas production in the renal parenchyma, occurring in diabetic patients in most case. The gold standard treatment has always been surgery associated with antibiotic therapy.

Predictors of extubation failure in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Few studies have focused on extubation outcome in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) requiring mechanical ventilation (MV). We conducted a study using prospectively collected data in a cohort of patients with COPD requiring invasive MV to identify variables associated with extubation failure. Use of noninvasive or invasive MV within 48 hours after extubation was defined as extubation failure.

Epidemiology and prognostic factors of critically ill patients treated with hemodiafiltration.

Purpose: The objective of this study is to study the epidemiology, outcome, and prognostic factors of critically ill patients treated with continuous venovenous hemodiafiltration (CVVHDF).

Materials And Methods: Observational cohort was done in a French 16-bed intensive care unit (ICU) from a university-affiliated urban hospital. All patients requiring, in the opinion of the treating physician, the initiation of CVVHDF were included in the study.

Prevention and treatment of aspiration pneumonia in intensive care units.

Aspiration is a leading cause of nosocomial infection in the intensive care unit. Techniques to avoid or reduce aspiration are important in preventing pneumonia and pneumonitis. The most important preventive measures include the semi-recumbent position, the surveillance of enteral feeding, the use of promotility agents, and avoiding excessive sedation.

Diagnostic and prognostic values of admission procalcitonin levels in community-acquired pneumonia in an intensive care unit.

Background: Measurement of procalcitonin (PCT) has been studied for several years in infectious diseases. Some studies have focused on community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) but only one was conducted in critically ill patients hospitalized in an intensive care unit (ICU).

Patients And Methods: To determine the diagnostic and prognostic role of PCT in patients admitted in an intensive care unit for severe CAP, 110 patients hospitalized in our unit were prospectively studied.

Hospital-acquired pneumonia in critically ill patients: factors associated with episodes due to imipenem-resistant organisms.

Background: Inadequate initial antimicrobial therapy represents one of the factors associated with mortality of patients suffering from hospital-acquired pneumonia. According to its wide antimicrobial spectrum, imipenem belongs to the usual antibiotics proposed by current guidelines for such a therapy. However, major changes in the antibiotic susceptibility patterns of bacteria in the intensive care unit (ICU) have occurred.

[Surgical antimicrobial prophylaxis: compliance to guidelines and impact of targeted information program].

Objectives: Surgical antimicrobial prophylaxis is used to decrease postoperative wound infection. We assessed the compliance to surgical antimicrobial prophylaxis guidelines in our hospital and the impact of an information program.

Patients And Methods: Observational study of clean or clean contamined surgery, during two 3-week periods, separated by a targeted information period.

Hospital-acquired pneumonia in critically ill patients: mortality risk stratification upon onset.

Study Objectives: To identify, in patients experiencing hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP), prognostic factors present at disease onset and build an algorithm capable of stratifying mortality risk upon HAP onset.

Design: Observational cohort from January 1994 to December 2001.

Setting: One intensive care unit (ICU) from a university-affiliated, urban teaching hospital.

[Viral pneumonia in immunocompetent patients].

Respiratory infections are frequently encountered in the community; these infections are usually associated with only minor consequences. Many different agents, such as influenza and parainfluenza virus, respiratory syncitial virus, rhinovirus, coronavirus, adenovirus and herpes virus can be found in immuno-competent patients. Among these pathogens, cytomegalovirus (CMV) has been found to be responsible for nosocomial pneumonia in ICU.

Impact of adequacy of initial antimicrobial therapy on the prognosis of patients with ventilator-associated pneumonia.

Objective: To study the prognostic impact of the appropriateness of initial antimicrobial therapy in patients suffering from ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP).

Design And Setting: Observational cohort from January 1994 to December 2001 in one intensive care unit (ICU) from an university-affiliated, urban teaching hospital.

Patients: All 132 consecutive patients exhibiting bacteriologically documented VAP during ICU stay.

Hospital-acquired pneumonia: risk factors for antimicrobial-resistant causative pathogens in critically ill patients.

Study Objectives: To determine factors associated with antimicrobial-resistant hospital-acquired pneumonia (AR-HAP), to build an algorithm evaluating the risk for such a pneumonia, and to test this algorithm.

Design: Combined observational and validation cohorts over two periods: January 1994 to December 1999, and January 2000 to March 2001.

Setting: One ICU from a university-affiliated urban teaching hospital.

[Severe acute respiratory syndrome].

In the Fall of 2002 a report from Guangdong Province in China showed the occurrence of an outbreak of atypical pneumonia. This outbreak rapidly progressed from China to Hong Kong, Singapore, Toronto, and the USA, to more than 25 countries worldwide and almost 3500 cases to date in april 2003. The clinical features associate a fever with mild respiratory symptoms which can progress to a typical acute respiratory distress syndrome requiring intensive care unit admission.