Safety and outcomes of decompressive craniectomy after intravenous tissue plasminogen activator administration for malignant cerebral infarction.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety and outcomes of decompressive craniectomy (DC) after intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (IV tPA) administration for malignant cerebral infarction.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed patients who underwent DC for malignant cerebral infarction. We compared fourteen patients who underwent DC after IV tPA administration with another nine patients who underwent DC without prior IV tPA administration.

Comparative study on the prognosis of critical ill patients transferred from another island compared to those patients transferred from emergency department to intensive care unit.

Objective: To compare outcomes of critically ill patients transferred from another island compared to those patients with direct admission from Emergency Department to intensive care unit (ICU).

Patients And Methods: Retrospective study of prospectively collected data during 8 years. The population studied was all critical adult patients transferred from another island to our hospital and those directly admitted from the Emergency Department.

Differences in the prognosis among severe trauma and medical patients requiring mechanical ventilation.

Objetive. To find the differences between the prognosis of the patients with severe traumatism injury and those who were admitted with medical pathology who also required mechanical ventilation in our ICU. Patients and Method.

Unilateral mydriasis secondary to ipratropium bromide in a critically ill patient.

Unilateral dilated pupil in a critical patient under sedation is an important clinical sign that requires prompt evaluation. An exhaustive assessment must be performed, including neurological examination and imaging tests, and pharmacological causes must be ruled out. We describe a case of unilateral fixed dilated pupil secondary to the administration of a nebulized cholinergic antagonist, ipratropium bromide, in an unconscious patient.