Quality indicators in intensive care medicine for Germany - fourth edition 2022.

The measurement of quality indicators supports quality improvement initiatives. The German Interdisciplinary Society of Intensive Care Medicine (DIVI) has published quality indicators for intensive care medicine for the fourth time now. After a scheduled evaluation after three years, changes in several indicators were made.

[Children visiting intensive care units and emergency departments : Kids are welcome!].

In this white paper, key recommendations for visitation by children in intensive care units (ICU; both pediatric and adult), intermediate care units and emergency departments (ED) are presented. In ICUs and EDs in German-speaking countries, the visiting policies for children and adolescents are regulated very heterogeneously: sometimes they are allowed to visit patients without restrictions in age and time duration, sometimes this is only possible from the age of teenager on, and only for a short duration. A request from children to visit often triggers different, sometimes restrictive reactions among the staff.

Family support in intensive care units during COVID-19 visit ban: A multinational Delphi Study during first COVID-19 wave.

Objectives: This study assessed opinions and experiences of healthcare professionals, former patients and family members during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and focuses on challenges in family-centred care for intensive care unit patients and affected families.

Research Methodology/design: A two-round modified Delphi process assessed the opinions and experiences of experts such as healthcare professionals, former patients and their families (n = 151).

Setting: This study was conducted across four countries in Europe.

[Ways of supporting relatives in intensive care units : Overview and update].

Background: Relatives of patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) face a challenging situation: they often experience an existential crisis with great emotional stress and at the same time they are often actively involved in therapeutic decisions. The visiting restrictions of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic have created new challenges in providing support to relatives.

Objectives: The aim of this work is to present current and new developments in supporting relatives of critically ill patients in the form of a narrative review.

Practice of family-centred care in intensive care units before the COVID-19-pandemic: A cross-sectional analysis in German-speaking countries.

Objectives: To provide insights into visiting policies and family-centred care practices with a focus on children as visitors in Intensive Care Units in German-speaking countries.

Methods/design: Online-survey with a mixed methods approach. Leading clinicians (n = 1943) from German-speaking countries were invited to participate.

[The care of relatives and ICU teams during a crisis].

Families find themselves in an exceptional situation after the sudden death of someone close. Anxiety, aggression, rage, incomprehension, and distraction are only a few feelings of the concerned people which intensive care staff must take care of. Crisis intervention, developed in the middle of the last century, offers a framework with its concepts for the healthcare staff of how to work with the bereaved people during the first few hours.

Accumulation of 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine adducts in HBx recombinant HepG2 cells and HBx transgenic mice.

Background/aims: Transgenic mice overexpressing hepatitis B x protein (HBx) show an increased susceptibility to mutations if exposed to mutagens. Also involved in HBx signalling, reactive oxygen intermediates (ROI) can induce DNA adducts such as 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine that can in turn lead to G/T transversion mutations. Therefore, we investigated whether HBx expression increases the level of the mutational precursor 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine in hepatocellular DNA.

Fibroblast growth factor receptor signalling is crucial for liver homeostasis and regeneration.

Several growth factors have been suggested to play a crucial role in liver regeneration, but a functional proof is still missing. Since fibroblast growth factors are important for the initiation of mammalian liver development, we determined the roles of these mitogens in liver repair by targeted expression of a dominant-negative fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) in hepatocytes of transgenic mice. The liver of young animals appeared histologically normal, and liver function was not obviously impaired.