Adherence to guidelines for the management of donors after brain death.

Purpose: Guideline adherence for the management of a donor after brain death (DBD) is largely unknown. This study aimed to perform an importance-performance analysis of prioritized key interventions (KIs) by linking guideline adherence rates to expert consensus ratings for the management of a DBD.

Materials And Methods: This observational, cross-sectional multicenter study was performed in 21 Belgian ICUs.

Development of key interventions and quality indicators for the management of an adult potential donor after brain death: a RAND modified Delphi approach.

Background: A substantial degree of variability in practices exists amongst donor hospitals regarding the donor detection, determination of brain death, application of donor management techniques or achievement of donor management goals. A possible strategy to standardize the donation process and to optimize outcomes could lie in the implementation of a care pathway. The aim of the study was to identify and select a set of relevant key interventions and quality indicators in order to develop a specific care pathway for donation after brain death and to rigorously evaluate its impact.

Biomarkers in patients admitted to the emergency department after exposure to acrylonitrile in a major railway incident involving bulk chemical material.

Background: A railway incident with victims of exposure to the cyanogenic substance acrylonitrile (ACN).

Aims: We retrospectively (i)built an inventory of the clinical characteristics of individuals admitted to surrounding emergency departments (ED's) and (ii)studied the correlation between N-2-cyanoethylvaline (CEV), a biomarker used in a population study for evaluating exposure to ACN, with lactate and thiocyanate (SCN), biomarkers determined during emergency care.

Results: 438 patients from 11 ED's were included and presented with known symptoms of ACN poisoning but also with concern about the risks.

Recommendations for further improvement of the deceased organ donation process in Belgium.

Belgium has achieved high deceased organ donation rates but according to the medical record data in the Donor Action database, deceased potential donors are still missed along the pathway. Between 2010 and 2014, 12.9 ± 3.