Smartphone Technology: Impact on Interprofessional Working Relations between Doctors and Nurses.

Background: For decades, the main communication technology in hospitals has been the paging system. In the era of digital communication, smartphones have been adopted by hospitals seeking to modernize processes and offer real-time, two-way communication to increase efficiency.

Objective: The aim of this study was to explore physicians' and nurses' perceptions of the impact of smartphones on communication and efficiency.

Fibrinogen-beta gene haplotype is associated with mortality in sepsis.

Objectives: Fibrinogen plays a key role in coagulation and inflammation. Transcription of the fibrinogen-beta gene (FGB) is the rate-limiting step in fibrinogen production. Our aim was to determine whether haplotypes of FGB are associated with mortality and organ dysfunction in a cohort of patients with sepsis.

Inhaled beta-2 agonist salbutamol and acute lung injury: an association with improvement in acute lung injury.

Introduction: Beta2 agonists have several properties that could be beneficial in acute lung injury (ALI). We therefore chose to study the effect of inhaled beta2 agonist use (salbutamol) on duration and severity of ALI.

Methods: We undertook a retrospective chart review of 86 consecutive mechanically ventilated patients with ALI, who had varying exposure to inhaled salbutamol.

Interleukin-10 haplotype associated with increased mortality in critically ill patients with sepsis from pneumonia but not in patients with extrapulmonary sepsis.

Study Objective: To test the hypothesis that haplotypes of the interleukin (IL)-10 gene are associated with clinical outcomes, comparing critically ill patients with sepsis from pneumonia vs those with extrapulmonary sepsis.

Design: Genetic association study.

Setting: Medical/surgical ICUs in a tertiary-care, university-affiliated teaching hospital.

The association of interleukin 6 haplotype clades with mortality in critically ill adults.

Background: Interleukin 6 (IL-6) is a key proinflammatory cytokine in the systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS). A G-->C polymorphism at position -174 of the IL-6 gene is associated with an adverse outcome in a number of inflammatory diseases, although its association with sepsis as an outcome remains unclear. We tested the hypothesis that specific haplotype clades of IL-6 may be associated with an outcome of SIRS.

Mechanisms of beta-receptor stimulation-induced improvement of acute lung injury and pulmonary edema.

Acute lung injury (ALI) and the acute respiratory distress syndrome are complex syndromes because both inflammatory and coagulation cascades cause lung injury. Transport of salt and water, repair and remodeling of the lung, apoptosis, and necrosis are additional important mechanisms of injury. Alveolar edema is cleared by active transport of salt and water from the alveoli into the lung interstitium by complex cellular mechanisms.

Severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (SARS): a critical care perspective.

Objective: To review the epidemiology, clinical features, etiology, diagnosis, and management of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) from a critical care perspective.

Data Sources: A MEDLINE search was performed using the following terms: severe acute respiratory syndrome and SARS virus. Additional information and references were obtained from the Web sites for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, World Health Organization, and Health Canada.

Novel therapies for sepsis: antiendotoxin therapies.

Severe sepsis and septic shock is a common problem encountered in the critical care unit with an estimated incidence in the US of 750,000 cases/year and a mortality rate of 30-50%. Sepsis involves a complex interaction between bacterial factors and the host immune system producing a systemic inflammatory state that may progress to multiple organ failure and death. Endotoxin (a lipopolysaccharide) released from Gram-negative bacteria has been implicated as a potent, prototypical stimulus of the immune response to bacterial infection.