Interleukin 6, galectin 3, growth differentiation factor 15, and soluble ST2 for mortality prediction in critically ill patients.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to compare the prognostic value of interleukin 6 (IL-6), galectin 3, growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15), and soluble ST2 (sST2) in an unselected cohort of critically ill patients.

Methods: During a study period of 1 year, we recruited 530 consecutive patients admitted to a medical intensive care unit of a tertiary care hospital. We examined a combination of inflammatory, renal, and cardiac biomarkers for the prediction of 90-day all-cause mortality.

Effect of proton pump inhibitors on gastric pH in patients exposed to severe stress.

Background: The incidence of upper gastrointestinal bleeding from stress ulcers has decreased within the last 30 years. Improvements in intensive care medicine including advanced equipment for artificial ventilation, better sedoanalgesic therapies, and the use of stress ulcer prophylaxis are credited for the decline.

Objectives: To determine the effectiveness of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) on gastric pH in patients exposed to a defined severe stress situation during a specified time period.

Prognostic value of soluble ST2 in an unselected cohort of patients admitted to an intensive care unit - The Linz Intensive Care Unit (LICU) study.

Background: Soluble ST2 (sST2) has emerged as a prognostic biomarker in patients with heart disease. We tested the hypothesis that sST2 is an independent predictor of mortality in patients admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU).

Methods: We performed measurements of sST2 plasma concentrations in 530 consecutive patients admitted to a medical ICU of a tertiary care hospital during a study period of one year.

[Steatohepatitis and cirrhosis: first manifestation 23 years after jejunoileal bypass surgery].

Intestinal shunting procedures followed by gastrointestinal bypass surgery have been used as therapeutic modalities in the treatment of morbid obesity since the mid 1950s. Enthusiasm reached its peak in the early 1960s with the introduction of the jejunoileal bypass, however began to wane as various complications were identified in the remote postoperative period and later. Finally, the jejunoileal bypass was abandoned in the 1980s.