Focused Critical Care Echocardiography: Development and Evaluation of an Image Acquisition Assessment Tool.

Objectives: Little attention has been placed on assessment tools to evaluate image acquisition quality for focused critical care echocardiography. We designed a novel assessment tool to objectively evaluate the image acquisition skills of critical care trainees learning focused critical care echocardiography and examined the tool for evidence of validity.

Design: Prospective observational study.

Improving prevention, early recognition and management of acute kidney injury after major surgery: results of a planning meeting with multidisciplinary stakeholders.

Purpose Of Review: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is common after major surgery, and is associated with morbidity, mortality, increased length of hospital stay, and high health care costs. Although recent guidelines for AKI provide recommendations for identification of patients at risk, monitoring, diagnosis, and management of AKI, there is lack of understanding to guide successful implementation of these recommendations into clinical practice.

Sources Of Information: We held a planning meeting with multidisciplinary stakeholders to identify barriers, facilitators, and strategies to implement recommendations for prevention, early identification, and management of AKI after major surgery.

Treatment of medically refractory hypercalcemic crisis.

Introduction: A 58-year-old patient was admitted to the intensive care unit for severe hypercalcemia (total Ca 5.30 mmol/L) complicated with status epilepticus, hypertensive crisis and acute renal failure. Renal replacement therapy was explored as a method for treating medically refractory hypercalcemia.