Catheter-directed mechanical thrombectomy in a patient with high-risk pulmonary embolism complicated by out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: a case report.

Background: Pulmonary embolism (PE) is common, and it is the third leading cause of cardiovascular death. The management of patients with high-risk PE generally consists of systemic thrombolysis; however, surgical or catheter-directed treatment (CDT) can be considered in selected cases.

Case Summary: A 78-year-old female patient presenting with acute severe dyspnoea develops out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA).

Inter-α-inhibitor heavy chain H4 and sepsis-related coagulation disturbances: Another link between innate immunity and coagulation.

Background: The protease inhibitor inter-α-inhibitor heavy chain H4 (ITIH4) has been described as an acute-phase reactant and could potentially aid in sepsis monitoring and prognostication.

Objectives: To investigate ITIH4 plasma levels in sepsis patients compared with healthy controls and to examine the association between ITIH4 and acute-phase response markers, blood coagulation, and organ dysfunction in sepsis.

Methods: We performed a post hoc study to a prospective cohort study.

Prognostic and discriminative accuracy of the quick Sepsis-related Organ Failure Assessment compared with an early warning score: a Danish cohort study.

Background: The clinical benefit of implementing the quick Sepsis-related Organ Failure Assessment (qSOFA) instead of early warning scores (EWS) to screen all hospitalised patients for critical illness has yet to be investigated in a large, multicentre study.

Methods: We conducted a cohort study including all hospitalised patients ≥18 years with EWS recorded at hospitals in the Central Denmark Region during the year 2016. The primary outcome was intensive care unit (ICU) admission and/or death within 2 days following an initial EWS.

Fibrin Network Formation and Lysis in Septic Shock Patients.

Background: Septic shock patients are prone to altered fibrinolysis, which contributes to microthrombus formation, organ failure and mortality. However, characterisation of the individual patient's fibrinolytic capacity remains a challenge due to a lack of global fibrinolysis biomarkers. We aimed to assess fibrinolysis in septic shock patients using a plasma-based fibrin clot formation and lysis (clot-lysis) assay and investigate the association between clot-lysis parameters and other haemostatic markers, organ dysfunction and mortality.

Platelet function in patients with septic shock.

Introduction: Platelet function during sepsis-related disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) is only sparsely investigated. We aimed to determine 1) platelet aggregation, independently of platelet count, and platelet activation among septic shock patients and 2) whether platelet aggregation or platelet activation differed among patients with and without DIC.

Materials And Methods: We included 38 septic shock patients at the Intensive Care Unit, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark.

Reduced Mannose-Binding Lectin-Associated Serine Protease (MASP)-1 is Associated with Disturbed Coagulation in Septic Shock.

Background:  Activation of the complement system is part of the dysregulated immune response in sepsis. The mannose-binding lectin-associated serine proteases (MASP)-1 and -2 activate the lectin pathway of the complement system. Besides, these proteins can activate coagulation in vitro.

Invasive Candida infections and the harm from antibacterial drugs in critically ill patients: data from a randomized, controlled trial to determine the role of ciprofloxacin, piperacillin-tazobactam, meropenem, and cefuroxime.

Objective: Use of antibiotics in critically ill patients may increase the risk of invasive Candida infection. The objective of this study was to determine whether increased exposure to antibiotics is associated with increased prevalence of invasive Candida infection.

Design: Substudy using data from a randomized controlled trial, the Procalcitonin And Survival Study 2006-2010.

The potential of antimicrobials to induce thrombocytopenia in critically ill patients: data from a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Antimicrobial-induced thrombocytopenia is frequently described in the literature among critically ill patients. Several antimicrobials have been implicated, although experimental evidence to demonstrate causality is limited. We report, using a randomized trial, the potential of antimicrobials to induce thrombocytopenia.

Kidney failure related to broad-spectrum antibiotics in critically ill patients: secondary end point results from a 1200 patient randomised trial.

Objectives: To explore whether a strategy of more intensive antibiotic therapy leads to emergence or prolongation of renal failure in intensive care patients.

Design: Secondary analysis from a randomised antibiotic strategy trial (the Procalcitonin And Survival Study). The randomised arms were conserved from the primary trial for the main analysis.

Three-year mortality among alcoholic patients after intensive care: a population-based cohort study.

Introduction: Alcoholic patients comprise a large proportion of patients in intensive care units (ICUs). However, data are limited on the impact of alcoholism on mortality after intensive care.

Methods: We conducted a cohort study among 16,848 first-time ICU patients between 2001 and 2007 to examine 30-day and 3-year mortality among alcoholic patients.

Procalcitonin-guided interventions against infections to increase early appropriate antibiotics and improve survival in the intensive care unit: a randomized trial.

Objective: For patients in intensive care units, sepsis is a common and potentially deadly complication and prompt initiation of appropriate antimicrobial therapy improves prognosis. The objective of this trial was to determine whether a strategy of antimicrobial spectrum escalation, guided by daily measurements of the biomarker procalcitonin, could reduce the time to appropriate therapy, thus improving survival.

Design: Randomized controlled open-label trial.

Preadmission statin use and one-year mortality among patients in intensive care - a cohort study.

Introduction: Statins reduce risk of cardiovascular events and have beneficial pleiotropic effects; both may reduce mortality in critically ill patients. We examined whether statin use was associated with risk of death in general intensive care unit (ICU) patients.

Methods: Cohort study of 12,483 critically ill patients > 45 yrs of age with a first-time admission to one of three highly specialized ICUs within the Aarhus University Hospital network, Denmark, between 2001 and 2007.

The Procalcitonin And Survival Study (PASS) - a randomised multi-center investigator-initiated trial to investigate whether daily measurements biomarker Procalcitonin and pro-active diagnostic and therapeutic responses to abnormal Procalcitonin levels, can improve survival in intensive care unit patients. Calculated sample size (target population): 1000 patients.

Background: Sepsis and complications to sepsis are major causes of mortality in critically ill patients. Rapid treatment of sepsis is of crucial importance for survival of patients. The infectious status of the critically ill patient is often difficult to assess because symptoms cannot be expressed and signs may present atypically.

[Capacity in Danish intensive care units. A national survey of capacity, cancellations and transfers of critically ill patients].

Introduction: A shortage of intensive care beds and fully-booked intensive care units has a range of undesirable consequences for patients and personnel, eg. transfer to other intensive care units, cancellation of operations, tighter visitation criteria and an increase in the work-load. The problem is illustrated in a national survey.

[The endocrinology of the critically ill].

Critical illness is characterized by one or more failing organs. Hormonal regulation of metabolism changes during the course of critical illness and is related to the severity of disease. Hormonal effects and inflammatory reactions are important and interrelated factors with respect to outcome.