Symptoms of anxiety and depression in family members of intensive care unit patients before discharge or death. A prospective multicenter study.

Study Objectives: More than two thirds of family members visiting intensive care unit (ICU) patients have symptoms of anxiety or depression during the first days of hospitalization. Identifying determinants of these symptoms would help caregivers support families at patient discharge or when death is imminent.

Design And Setting: Prospective multicenter study including 78 ICUs (1184 beds) in France.

Long-term mechanical ventilation with hygroscopic heat and moisture exchangers used for 48 hours: a prospective clinical, hygrometric, and bacteriologic study.

Objective: To determine whether use of a hygroscopic heat and moisture exchanger (HME) for 48 hrs without change affects its efficiency and the level of bacterial colonization in long-term mechanically ventilated medical intensive care unit patients.

Design: Prospective, randomized clinical study evaluating two hygroscopic HMEs.

Setting: Medical intensive care unit at a university teaching hospital.

Heat and moisture exchangers in mechanically ventilated intensive care unit patients: a plea for an independent assessment of their performance.

Objective: To determine whether use of a hygroscopic and hydrophobic heat and moisture exchanger (HME) for 7 days without change affects its efficiency in long-term, mechanically ventilated, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients.

Design: Prospective, randomized, controlled clinical study comparing two combined HMEs.

Setting: Medical intensive care unit at a university teaching hospital.

Bacteremia caused by Acinetobacter ursingii.

Acinetobacter ursingii has not been reported in infectious processes apart from its recent description as a new species. A bacteremia caused by A. ursingii in a patient with a pulmonary adenocarcinoma confirms that this microorganism is an opportunistic human pathogen.

Impact of a family information leaflet on effectiveness of information provided to family members of intensive care unit patients: a multicenter, prospective, randomized, controlled trial.

Comprehension and satisfaction are relevant criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of information provided to family members of intensive care unit (ICU) patients. We performed a prospective randomized trial in 34 French ICUs to compare comprehension of diagnosis, prognosis, treatment, and satisfaction with information provided by ICU caregivers, in ICU patient family representatives who did (n = 87) or did not (n = 88) receive a family information leaflet (FIL) in addition to standard information. An FIL designed specifically for this study was delivered at the first visit of the family representative: it provided general information on the ICU and hospital, the name of the ICU physician caring for the patient, a diagram of a typical ICU room with the names of all the devices, and a glossary of 12 terms commonly used in ICUs.