Steroid-induced myopathy in patients intubated due to exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Objective: To determine incidence, risk factors and impact on various outcome parameters of the development of acute quadriplegic myopathy in a selected population of critically ill patients.

Setting: A prospective cohort study carried out in the intensive care unit of a tertiary-level university hospital.

Patients: All patients admitted due to acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease who required intubation and mechanical ventilation, and received high doses of intravenous corticosteroids.

Effects of three intravenous lipid emulsions on the survival and mononuclear phagocyte function of septic rats.

The immunosuppressive effects of intravenous lipid emulsions are a matter of great concern and debate. In a rat model of gram-negative bacteremia, we assessed whether the use of three intravenous lipid emulsions with different triacylglycerol compositions could influence mortality, bacterial clearance, and prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)) levels and compared these groups with groups of orally fed rats and rats that received a small amount of calories in form of glucose without enteral feeding (starvation). RATS WERE ASSIGNED TO ONE OF FIVE GROUPS: group 1 (control, n = 15) received rodent chow ad libitum and saline infusion; group 2 (starvation group, n = 12) had no access to chow and received an infusion of 5% glucose; group 3 (n = 17) received total parenteral nutrition (TPN) with long-chain triacylglycerols; group 4 (n = 12) received TPN with medium- and long-chain triacylglycerols; and group 5 (n = 15) received TPN with its emulsion based on olive oil.

Clinical and metabolic effects of two lipid emulsions on the parenteral nutrition of septic patients.

Objective: We compared the metabolic and clinical effects of two lipid emulsions, long-chain triacylglycerols (LCT) and a mixture of medium- and long-chain triacylglycerols (MCT/LCT), in septic patients.

Methods: Both groups received total parenteral nutrition (TPN) with a solution enriched with branched-chain amino acids (BCAA). Seventy-two septic patients received TPN with MCT/LCT (group 1) or LCT (group 2).

Critical illness polyneuropathy: risk factors and clinical consequences. A cohort study in septic patients.

Objective: To determine risk factors and clinical consequences of critical illness polyneuropathy (CIP) evaluated by the impact on duration of mechanical ventilation, length of stay and mortality.

Design: Inception cohort study.

Setting: Intensive care unit of a tertiary hospital.