0000000000414608
AUTHOR
Marisa Blasco
Dexamethasone treatment for the acute respiratory distress syndrome: a multicentre, randomised controlled trial
Background There is no proven specific pharmacological treatment for patients with the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). The efficacy of corticosteroids in ARDS remains controversial. We aimed to assess the effects of dexamethasone in ARDS, which might change pulmonary and systemic inflammation and result in a decrease in duration of mechanical ventilation and mortality. Methods We did a multicentre, randomised controlled trial in a network of 17 intensive care units (ICUs) in teaching hospitals across Spain in patients with established moderate-to-severe ARDS (defined by a ratio of partial pressure of arterial oxygen to the fraction of inspired oxygen of 200 mm Hg or less assesse…
Usefulness of C-reactive protein and left ventricular function for risk assessment in survivors of acute myocardial infarction.
The additional prognostic information provided by C-reactive protein (CRP) to parameters of left ventricular function in survivors of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) was investigated in 665 patients (326 with ST elevation and 339 with non-ST elevation). Cox multivariable analysis identified the following predictors of 6-month cardiac death: age (per 5 years hazard ratio [HR] 1.2, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.1 to 1.4, p = 0.004), Killip class >I at presentation (HR 2.4, 95% CI 1.3 to 4.5, p = 0.0001), a reduced ejection fraction (per 5% HR 1.3, 95% CI 1.2 to 1.4, p = 0.0001), and greater CRP (per 5 mg/L HR 1.02, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.04, p = 0.02); the C-index of the model was 0.77 without a…