Use of CPAP as an alternative to the apnea test during the determination of brain death in hypoxemic patients. Report of two cases.

The apnea test, which involves disconnection from the mechanical ventilator, presents risks during the determination of brain death, especially in hypoxemic patients. We describe the performance of the apnea test without disconnection from the mechanical ventilator in two patients. The first case involved an 8-year-old boy admitted with severe hypoxemia due to pneumonia.

Time and quality of admissions: nursing workload.

Objectives: to measure the average time spent by the nursing staff during patient admission and investigate their compliance with the activities described by the Nursing Interventions Classification; evaluate the degree of interference in the workload of the team.

Methods: observational with time measurement through software. We followed 199 admissions made by the nursing staff in seven units, using two validated instruments.

A pragmatic multi-center trial of goal-directed fluid management based on pulse pressure variation monitoring during high-risk surgery.

Background: Intraoperative fluid therapy guided by mechanical ventilation-induced pulse-pressure variation (PPV) may improve outcomes after major surgery. We tested this hypothesis in a multi-center study.

Methods: The patients were included in two periods: a first control period (control group; n = 147) in which intraoperative fluids were given according to clinical judgment.

Three vs twelve months of dual antiplatelet therapy after zotarolimus-eluting stents: the OPTIMIZE randomized trial.

Importance: The current recommendation is for at least 12 months of dual antiplatelet therapy after implantation of a drug-eluting stent. However, the optimal duration of dual antiplatelet therapy with specific types of drug-eluting stents remains unknown.

Objective: To assess the clinical noninferiority of 3 months (short-term) vs 12 months (long-term) of dual antiplatelet therapy in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with zotarolimus-eluting stents.

Evaluation of serum cardiac troponin I values in children less than 1 year of age.

Objective: The objective is to verify the cardiac troponin I values in children less than 1 year of age without clinical cardiac dysfunction.

Methods: The cardiac troponin I values were determined in 99 children less than 1 year of age, including term infants without diseases related to cardiac dysfunction using the specific kit Opus T Troponin I (cTn) (Dade Behring Inc. -Newalk, DE 19714, USA).

Comparison between cardiac output values measured by thermodilution and partial carbon dioxide rebreathing in patients with acute lung injury.

Context: Thermodilution, which is considered to be a standard technique for measuring the cardiac output in critically ill patients, is not free from relevant risks. There is a need to find alternative, noninvasive, automatic, simple and accurate methods for monitoring cardiac output at the bedside.

Objective: To compare cardiac output measurements by thermodilution and partial carbon dioxide rebreathing in patients with acute lung injury at two levels of severity (lung injury score, LIS: below 2.