End of life in the intensive care unit: should French law be adapted?

Background: Longstanding concerns regarding end of life in the ICU led in France to the publication of guidelines, updated in 2009, that take into account the insights provided by a recent law (Leonetti's law) regarding patients' rights. After the French President asked a specific expert to review end of life issues, the French Intensive Care Society (SRLF) surveyed their members (doctors and paramedics) about various aspects of end of life in the ICU.

Methods: SRLF members were invited to respond to a questionnaire, sent by Email, designed to assess their knowledge of Leonetti's law and to determine how many caregivers would agree with the authorization of lethal drug administration in selected end of life situations.

Contribution of the ethics committee of the French Intensive Care Society to describing a scenario for implementing organ donation after Maastricht type III cardiocirculatory death in France.

French law allows organ donation after death due to cardiocirculatory arrest. In the Maastricht classification, type III non-heart-beating donors are those who experience cardiocirculatory arrest after the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatments. French authorities in charge of regulating organ donation (Agence de la Biomédecine, ABM) are considering organ collection from Maastricht type III donors.

Abciximab treatment modalities for thromboembolic events related to aneurysm coiling.

Background: Thromboembolic complications are the most common cause of periprocedural morbidity associated with the endovascular treatment of intracranial aneurysms with detachable coils.

Objective: To estimate the safety and efficacy of using combined intra-arterial and intravenous abciximab to treat thrombi complicating endovascular cerebral aneurysm coil embolization.

Methods: In a retrospective analysis of 390 aneurysmal coiling procedures, we identified 39 patients (10.

Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, pilot trial of high-dose methylprednisolone in aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage.

Object: The object of this study was to determine the efficacy of methylprednisolone in reducing symptomatic vasospasm and poor outcomes after subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH).

Methods: Ninety-five patients with proven SAH were recruited into a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial. Starting within 6 hours after angiographic diagnosis of aneurysm rupture, placebo or methylprednisolone, 16 mg/kg, was administered intravenously every day for 3 days to 46 and 49 patients, respectively.