Therapeutic impact of basic critical care echocardiography performed by residents after limited training.

Background: The objective was to assess the agreement between therapeutic proposals derived from basic critical care echocardiography performed by novice operators in ultrasonography after a limited training (residents) and by experts considered as reference. Secondary objectives were to assess the agreement between operators' answers to simple clinical questions and the concordance between basic two-dimensional measurements.

Methods: This observational, prospective, single-center study was conducted over a 3-year period in a medical-surgical intensive care unit.

Sodium Bicarbonate Versus Sodium Chloride for Preventing Contrast-Associated Acute Kidney Injury in Critically Ill Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objectives: To test whether hydration with bicarbonate rather than isotonic sodium chloride reduces the risk of contrast-associated acute kidney injury in critically ill patients.

Design: Prospective, double-blind, multicenter, randomized controlled study.

Setting: Three French ICUs.

Circulating immature granulocytes with T-cell killing functions predict sepsis deterioration*.

Objectives: Primary objective was to identify leukocyte subsets that could predict the early evolution of sepsis at 48 hours (i.e., deterioration or stability/improvement).