Rapid Onset of Neuromuscular Paralysis or Weakness.

The focus of this narrative review is the differential diagnosis of disease involving the peripheral or lower motor neuron component of the neurology of breathing. The clinical context is limited to those conditions leading to admission to the intensive care unit with a time course often described as acute or of rapid onset, meaning within days to weeks. However, the article also reviews those underlying inherited or congenital conditions that may have gone unnoticed until fulminant deterioration with respiratory failure.

Prevalence of burnout in pediatric intensivists: an observational comparison with general pediatricians.

Objective: To study the prevalence of burnout in general pediatricians and pediatric intensivists and to evaluate factors that may be associated with this syndrome.

Design: Observational cohort study.

Setting: Pediatric departments of two hospitals in south Brazil.

Prospective operationalization and feasibility of a glycemic control protocol in critically ill children.

Objective: To evaluate the feasibility and safe operationalization of a pediatric glycemic control protocol in the setting of a general pediatric intensive care unit in a developing country.

Design: Prospective, observational cohort study carried out over 12 months.

Setting: Fourteen-bed pediatric intensive care unit in Brazil.

Pilot safety study of low-dose vasopressin in non-septic critically ill children.

Objective: To assess the safety of low-dose vasopressin infusion in critically ill children requiring prolonged mechanical ventilation (MV) at risk of developing sedation/analgesia-related hypotension.

Method: Randomized pilot safety study in children expected to require MV for at least 3 days. Children received either vasopressin (0.

Glycemic control and insulin therapy in sepsis and critical illness.

Objective: To review the literature about the pathophysiology of hyperglycemia and glycemic control in children and adults with sepsis and critical illness.

Sources: Non-systematic survey of the medical literature using MEDLINE and terms hyperglycemia, glycemic control, intensive insulin therapy, sepsis and intensive care. Articles were selected according to their relevance based on the authors' opinion.

Ferritin levels in children with severe sepsis and septic shock.

Aim: To evaluate serum ferritin level in children with severe sepsis and septic shock and its association with mortality.

Method: A cohort study of 36 children aged 1 month-16 years with severe sepsis or septic shock requiring intensive care was conducted. Serum ferritin levels were measured at the time of diagnosis of sepsis and a ferritin index (FI=observed serum ferritin divided by the upper limit of normal ferritin for age and gender) was calculated.