FACE study: 2-year follow-up of adaptive servo-ventilation for sleep-disordered breathing in a chronic heart failure cohort.

Background: Sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) is a common comorbidity in patients with heart failure (HF) and is associated with worse prognosis.

Objectives: This study evaluated the effects of adaptive servo-ventilation (ASV) on morbidity and mortality in a large heterogeneous population of HF patients with different etiologies/phenotypes.

Methods: Consecutive HF patients with predominant central sleep apnea (± obstructive sleep apnea) indicated for ASV were included; the control group included patients who refused or stopped ASV before three months follow-up.

Leukocyte telomere length, allelic variations in related genes and risk of coronary heart disease in people with long-standing type 1 diabetes.

Background: Type 1 diabetes is associated with accelerated vascular aging and advanced atherosclerosis resulting in increased rates of cardiovascular disease and premature death. We evaluated associations between Leukocyte telomere length (LTL), allelic variations (SNPs) in LTL-related genes and the incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD) in adults with long-standing type 1 diabetes.

Methods: We assessed associations of LTL, measured at baseline by RT-PCR, and of SNPs in 11 LTL-related genes with the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD: myocardial infarction or coronary revascularization) and all-cause death during follow-up in two multicenter French-Belgian prospective cohorts of people with long-standing type 1 diabetes.

Rituximab Therapy for Mucous Membrane Pemphigoid: A Retrospective Monocentric Study With Long-Term Follow-Up in 109 Patients.

Mucous membrane pemphigoid (MMP) is a heterogeneous group of rare, chronic, subepithelial autoimmune blistering diseases (AIBDs) with predominant involvement of mucous membranes that can be sight-threatening and life-threatening. Rituximab (RTX) has demonstrated its efficacy in severe MMP refractory to conventional immunosuppressants in small series that differed in RTX scheme, concomitant therapies, and outcome definitions. In a meta-analysis involving 112 patients with MMP treated with RTX, complete remission (CR) was reported in 70.

ICU Survivors Experience of ICU Diaries: An Ancillary Qualitative Analysis of the ICU Diary Study.

Objectives: To investigate patients' experience of ICU diaries 6 months after ICU discharge among survivors. This study was designed to add insight into a large randomized study, which found no benefit of the ICU diary to post-traumatic stress disorder among critically ill patients having received mechanical ventilation.

Design: A preplanned qualitative substudy of patients receiving an ICU diary written by ICU caregivers and families.

Effect of an ICU Diary on Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms Among Patients Receiving Mechanical Ventilation: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Keeping a diary for patients while they are in the intensive care unit (ICU) might reduce their posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms.

Objectives: To assess the effect of an ICU diary on the psychological consequences of an ICU hospitalization.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Assessor-blinded, multicenter, randomized clinical trial in 35 French ICUs from October 2015 to January 2017, with follow-up until July 2017.

The ICU-Diary study: prospective, multicenter comparative study of the impact of an ICU diary on the wellbeing of patients and families in French ICUs.

Background: Post-intensive care syndrome includes the multiple consequences of an intensive care unit (ICU) stay for patients and families. It has become a new challenge for intensivists. Prevention programs have been disappointing, except for ICU diaries, which report the patient's story in the ICU.

"It Was the Only Thing I Could Hold Onto, But…": Receiving a Letter of Condolence After Loss of a Loved One in the ICU: A Qualitative Study of Bereaved Relatives' Experience.

Objectives: Family members of patients who die in the ICU often remain with unanswered questions and suffer from lack of closure. A letter of condolence may help bereaved relatives, but little is known about their experience of receiving such a letter. The objective of the study was to understand bereaved family members' experience of receiving a letter of condolence.

Treatment intensity and outcome of nonagenarians selected for admission in ICUs: a multicenter study of the Outcomerea Research Group.

Background: Outcome of very elderly patients admitted in intensive care unit (ICU) was most often reported for octogenarians. ICU admission demands for nonagenarians are increasing. The primary objective was to compare outcome and intensity of treatment of octogenarians and nonagenarians.

Impact of Proactive Nurse Participation in ICU Family Conferences: A Mixed-Method Study.

Objectives: To investigate family perceptions of having a nurse participating in family conferences and to assess the psychologic well being of the same families after ICU discharge.

Design: Mixed-method design with a qualitative study embedded in a single-center randomized study.

Setting: Twelve-bed medical-surgical ICU in a 460-bed tertiary hospital.

Skin antisepsis with chlorhexidine-alcohol versus povidone iodine-alcohol, with and without skin scrubbing, for prevention of intravascular-catheter-related infection (CLEAN): an open-label, multicentre, randomised, controlled, two-by-two factorial trial.

Background: Intravascular-catheter-related infections are frequent life-threatening events in health care, but incidence can be decreased by improvements in the quality of care. Optimisation of skin antisepsis is essential to prevent short-term catheter-related infections. We hypothesised that chlorhexidine-alcohol would be more effective than povidone iodine-alcohol as a skin antiseptic to prevent intravascular-catheter-related infections.