Determinants of Mortality for Ventilated Hospital-Acquired Pneumonia and Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia.

Unlabelled: Hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP) is the most common hospital-acquired infection, accounting for 22% of all nosocomial infections. The available studies to date have not attempted to assess whether confounding factors may account for the observed difference in mortality for the two forms of nosocomial pneumonia associated with mechanical ventilation, namely ventilated HAP (vHAP) and ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP).

Objectives: To determine if vHAP is an independent predictor of mortality among patients with nosocomial pneumonia.

The importance of viruses in ventilator-associated pneumonia.

Objective: Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) remains a challenge. The importance of viruses in VAP is not established. We sought to determine the prevalence of viruses in VAP and the outcomes of viral VAP.

Spectrum scores: Toward a better definition of de-escalation.

Spectrum scores measure antimicrobial utilization while also quantifying the spectrum of activity. Accordingly, changes in spectrum score can be used to identify antimicrobial de-escalation. We show that spectrum-score-based de-escalation has a 95.

Impact of Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors and Angiotensin Receptor Blockers on Renal Function in Type 1 Cardiorenal Syndrome.

Introduction: Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACE-I) and angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) discontinuation during acute heart failure (AHF) is associated with increased mortality following hospitalization. Although the etiology of acute kidney injury (AKI) in type 1 cardiorenal syndrome (CRS) has been linked to renal venous congestion, ACE-I/ARB withdrawal (AW) theoretically promotes renal function recovery. ACE-I/ARBs are dose-reduced or withheld in approximately half of patients with CRS, but the subsequent impact on renal function remains largely uninvestigated.