Diaphragm dysfunction and peripheral muscle wasting in septic shock patients: Exploring their relationship over time using ultrasound technology (the MUSiShock protocol).

Background: Intensive Care Unit (ICU) patients are known to lose muscle mass and function during ICU stay. Ultrasonography (US) application for the assessment of the skeletal muscle is a promising tool and might help detecting muscle changes and thus several dysfunctions during early stages of ICU stay. MUSiShock is a research project aiming to investigate structure and function of diaphragm and peripheral muscles using ultrasound techniques in septic shock patients, and to assess their relevance in several clinical outcomes such as the weaning process.

The HEV Ventilator: at the interface between particle physics and biomedical engineering.

A high-quality, low-cost ventilator, dubbed HEV, has been developed by the particle physics community working together with biomedical engineers and physicians around the world. The HEV design is suitable for use both in and out of hospital intensive care units, provides a variety of modes and is capable of supporting spontaneous breathing and supplying oxygen-enriched air. An external air supply can be combined with the unit for use in situations where compressed air is not readily available.

[Cardiac rehabilitation : a multidisciplinary program of cardiovascular prevention of essential importance].

Cardiovascular diseases and especially coronary artery disease remain the first cause of mortality in Switzerland. Comprehensive cardiac rehabilitation is a validated multidisciplinary intervention, which represents the most appropriate strategy of implementing an effective secondary cardiovascular prevention to reduce the impact of cardiovascular diseases. However, less than half of patients after a myocardial infarction and a tiny proportion of patients with heart failure participate in a rehabilitation program in our country.

[Early exercise training after exacerbation in patients with chronic respiratory failure].

Patients who suffered from an exacerbation of a chronic respiratory disorder are often very limited in terms of their exercise capacity because of severe dyspnea and amyotrophy of peripheral muscles. Early implementation of pulmonary rehabilitation may help these patients to avoid the complications of a prolonged bedridden period, and increase more rapidly their mobility. Early rehabilitation has become more frequent, but requires special skills from the care givers (chest therapists).

[Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients undergoing home oxygen therapy: a study of clinical parameters, nutritional status and ambulatory capacity].

Aim Of The Study: The aim of the study was to document the nutritional status and the calorie demands of patients suffering from severe chronic airflow obstruction (BPCO) who were on continuous domiciliary oxygen therapy (OCD) and to correlate this information with the clinical picture, the severity of the respiratory disease and the daily distance walked, this to be measured in a prospective manner.

Patients And Methods: Fifty clinically stable patients with chronic airflow obstruction on continuous oxygen therapy for 33 months (range 4-106) in whom the following measures were made at home: pulmonary function, maximal static inspiratory and expiratory pressure (PIMAX and PEMAX), strength of hand, grip, the mean distance walked daily (wearing a pedometer for one week), body mass index (IMC), and the body composition by electrical bio-impedence and calorie requirements.

Results: Thirty four per cent of patients presented with an excessive body mass (IMC > 27 kg/m2), 42 per cent had normal nutrition (IMC 20-27 kg/m2) and 24 per cent were malnourished (IMC < 20 kg/m2).

Health-related quality of life in patients under long-term oxygen therapy: a home-based descriptive study.

Long-term home oxygen therapy (LTOT) improves survival of hypoxic patients with chronic respiratory insufficiency. However, the health-related quality of life (HRQL) of these patients, when LTOT is initiated, is severely impaired. The present study aims to describe the health-related quality of life (HRQL) of patients under LTOT, assessed at home, to identify parameters relevant to HRQL, and to describe changes over a 1-yr period.

No effect of long-term vigabatrin treatment on central nervous system conduction in patients with refractory epilepsy: results of a multicenter study of somatosensory and visual evoked potentials. PMS Study Multicenter Group.

Purpose: In dogs, vigabatrin (VGB) has been associated with intramyelinic edema producing delayed central conduction in somatosensory and visual evoked potentials (SEP, VEP). No such effects have been reported in humans. We assessed whether abnormalities of central conduction could be detected prospectively in patients with epilepsy treated with VGB as long-term add-on medication.