Long term follow-up of quality of life and functional ability in patients with ICU acquired Weakness - A post hoc analysis.

Purpose: ICU acquired Weakness (ICUaW) is a common complication of critical illness. The aim of our study was the assessment of quality of life (QoL) and functional ability of patients with ICUaW, 6 months post hospital discharge.

Material And Methods: Eight hundred seventy eight consecutive patients who had been discharged from the ICU were evaluated and 128 of them, 36 with ICUaW, were eligible for the study.

Effect of neuromuscular stimulation and individualized rehabilitation on muscle strength in Intensive Care Unit survivors: A randomized trial.

Purpose: Intensive Care Unit (ICU) survivors experience muscle weakness leading to restrictions in functional ability. Neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) has been an alternative to exercise in critically ill patients. The aim of our study was to investigate its effects along with individualized rehabilitation on muscle strength of ICU survivors.

Cutaneous decompression sickness.

A probable case of decompression illness with associated cutis marmorata is presented, which regressed over a few hours with oxygen breathing and after intravenous methylprednisolone and fluid resuscitation without recompression. He was eventually transferred for hyperbaric treatment some 10 hours post dive. Cutaneous decompression illness is not associated with high mortality per se, but prompt and accurate recognition is warranted, as it may represent a prodromal feature of potentially life-threatening complications.

Impact of acute hypobaric hypoxia on blood flow distribution in brain.

Aim: Acute hypobaric hypoxia is well known to alter brain circulation and to cause neuropsychological impairment. However, very few studies have examined the regional changes occurring in the brain during acute exposure to extreme hypoxic conditions.

Methods: Regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) response to hypoxia was investigated in six healthy subjects exposed to either normobaric normoxia or hypobaric hypoxia with ambient pressure/inspired oxygen pressure of 101/21 kPa and 50/11 kPa respectively.

Soleus muscle force following downhill running in ovariectomized rats treated with estrogen.

The ovariectomized (OVX) rat model was used to investigate the effects of estrogen treatment on soleus muscle functionality in situ following muscle injury induced by downhill running. Fifty immature, 24- to 26-d-old, OVX rats were randomly assigned to 5 separate experimental groups: sedentary controls (OVX-Sed), placebo-treated and studied immediately after exercise (OVX-Pb0), placebo-treated and studied 72 h after exercise (OVX-Pb72), estradiol-treated and studied immediately after exercise (OVX-Ed0), and estradiol-treated and studied 72 h after exercise (OVX-Ed72). At the age of 9 weeks, under ketamine and xylazine anesthesia i.

Estrogen effect on some enzymes in female rats after downhill running.

The study investigates the effect of administered estrogen on plasma creatine kinase (CK) and lactate dehydrogenase (LD) levels in female ovariectomized rats after downhill running. Rats ovariectomized before sexual maturity were subcutaneously implanted with pellets containing 17 beta-estradiol or placebo. Three weeks later they were subjected to a 90-min intermittent downhill running protocol.