The association between the initial tidal volume and the development of acute lung injury suggests that ventilator-associated lung injury may be an important cause of this syndrome. Height and gender should be considered when setting up the ventilator. Strong consideration should be given to limiting large tidal volume, not only in patients with established acute lung injury but also in patients at risk for acute lung injury.

Rationale: Acute lung injury (ALI) that develops 6 hours after transfusion (TRALI) is the leading cause of transfusion-related mortality. Several transfusion characteristics have been postulated as risk factors for TRALI, but the evidence is limited to retrospective studies. Objectives: To compare patient and transfusion risk factors between patients who do and do not develop ALI. Methods: In this prospective cohort study, consecutive transfused critically ill patients were closely observed for development of ALI. Donor samples were collected from the transfusion bags. Risk factors were compared between patients who developed ALI after transfusion and transfused control patients, matched by age, sex, and admission diagnosis. Measurements and Main Results: Seventy-four of 901 transfused patients developed ALI within 6 hours of transfusion (8%). Compared with transfused control subjects, patients with ALI were more likely to have sepsis (37 vs. 22%, P 5 0.016) and a history of chronic alcohol abuse (37 vs. 18%, P 5 0.006). When adjusted for patient characteristics, transfusion of plasma from female donors (odds ratio [OR], 5.09; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 1.37-18.85) rather than male donors (OR, 1.60; 95% CI, 0.76 to 3.37), number of pregnancies among the donors (OR, 1.19; 95% CI, 1.05 to 1.34), number of donor units positive for anti-granulocyte antibodies (OR, 4.85; 95% CI,) and anti-HLA class II antibodies (OR, 3.08; 95% CI,, and concentration of lysophosphatidylcholine in the donor product (OR, 1.69; 95% CI, 1.10 to 2.59) were associated with the development of ALI. Conclusions: Both patient and transfusion risk factors determine the probability of ALI after transfusion. Transfusion factors represent attractive targets for the prevention of ALI.

Summary:Pulmonary complications develop in 30-60% of hematopoietic stem cell transplants (HSCT). The main, late onset, non-infectious complications include Bronchiolitis obliterans (BO), Bronchiolitis obliterans organizing pneumonia (BOOP), and idiopathic pneumonia syndrome (IPS). BO and BOOP occur almost exclusively in allogeneic HSCT, and have 61% and 21% mortality rates, respectively. BOOP responds favorably to corticosteroids. IPS has less than 15% 1-year survival. Bone Marrow Transplantation (2001) 28, 425-434. Keywords: pulmonary complications; Bronchiolitis obliterans; Bronchiolitis obliterans organizing pneumonia; interstitial pneumonia; hematopoietic stem cell transplantation Despite the success in treating otherwise fatal diseases, HSCT is associated with multiple complications. Pulmonary complications develop in 30-60% of HSCT recipients. 1,2 Factors that influence the development of pulmonary complications in HSCT include previous infections, pre-transplant conditioning regimen, current or prior immunosuppressant and radiation treatment, type of stem cell transplant (autologous vs allogeneic), use of prophylactic antibiotics, and time elapsed since transplant. With the use of prophylactic antibiotics, the spectrum of pulmonary complications following HSCT has changed increasingly from infectious to non-infectious etiologies. The times of onset and distinguishing features of the main non-infectious pulmonary complications are shown in Figure 1 and Table 1. This review will focus on the late-onset, non-infectious pulmonary complications in HSCT recipients. An algorithmic approach is outlined in Figure 2. Since most of the treatable pulmonary complications in HSCT recipients are diagnosed non-invasively and by bronchoscopy, we rarely subject our patients to surgical lung biopsy. However, in patients with suspected BOOP and when bronchoscopy is contraindicated or non-diagnostic, we occasionally resort to video-assisted thoracoscopic surgical lung biopsy. Abnormal lung functionRestrictive and obstructive ventilatory defects, and gas transfer abnormalities occur frequently in HSCT recipients. 3,4 In a study of 52 young, asymptomatic HSCT recipients, 38% had abnormalities in pulmonary function tests (PFT): 23% restrictive defect with or without impaired gas transfer and 15% isolated impaired gas transfer. 3 An abnormal pulmonary function test is a risk factor for pulmonary complications. 5-9 However, the role of PFT in identifying HSCT recipients at risk for pulmonary complications needs further investigation. The PFT findings in BO, BOOP, and delayed pulmonary toxicity syndrome are listed in Table 2. Bronchiolitis obliterans (BO)GVHD is a frequent complication of allogeneic HSCT. 10 The pulmonary morphological manifestations of GVHD include diffuse alveolar damage, lymphocytic bronchitis/ bronchiolitis with interstitial pneumonitis, BOOP, and BO. 11 BO is a nonspecific inflammatory injury affecting

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BackgroundSepsis is a major risk factor for the development of thrombocytopenia, but few studies have specifically evaluated prognostic importance of thrombocytopenia in patients with sepsis. We investigated the incidence, risk factors, and prognostic importance of thrombocytopenia in adult patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) with sepsis.MethodsA retrospective analysis of patients admitted with severe sepsis/septic shock from December 2007 to January 2009 to a 24-bed medical ICU was done.ResultsA total of 304 patients were included in the study. The patients' mean (±SD) age was 68.8 (±15.8) years. The majority (93.7%) had septic shock, and pneumonia was the most common infection (38.8%). Thrombocytopenia developed in 145 patients (47.6%): 77 (25.3%) at ICU admission and 68 (22.3%) during their hospital course. The median (IQR) duration of thrombocytopenia was 4.4 (1.9–6.9) days. Patients who developed thrombocytopenia had more episodes of major bleeding (14.4% vs. 3.7%, P < 0.01) and received more transfusions. Patients with thrombocytopenia had a higher incidence of acute kidney injury (44.1% vs. 29.5%, P < 0.01), prolonged vasopressor support (median (IQR): 37 (17–76) vs. 23 (13–46) h, P < 0.01), and longer ICU stay (median (IQR): 3.1 (1.6–7.8) vs. 2.1 (1.2–4.4) days, P < 0.01). The 28-day mortality was similar between patients with and without thrombocytopenia (32.4% vs. 24.5%, P = 0.12). However, while 15 of 86 patients (17.4%) who resolved their thrombocytopenia died, 32 of 59 patients (54.2%) whose thrombocytopenia did not resolve died (P < 0.01). The association between non-resolution of thrombocytopenia and mortality remained significant after adjusting for age, APACHE III score and compliance with a sepsis resuscitation bundle (P < 0.01).ConclusionsThrombocytopenia is common in patients who are admitted to the ICU with severe sepsis and septic shock. Patients with thrombocytopenia had more episodes of major bleeding, increased incidence of acute kidney injury, and prolonged ICU stay. Non-resolution of thrombocytopenia, but not thrombocytopenia itself, was associated with increased 28-day mortality.

Objective: To determine the frequency and spectrum of myocardial dysfunction in patients with severe sepsis and septic shock using transthoracic echocardiography and to evaluate the impact of the myocardial dysfunction types on mortality. Patients and Methods: A prospective study of 106 patients with severe sepsis or septic shock was conducted from August 1, 2007, to January 31, 2009. All patients underwent transthoracic echocardiography within 24 hours of admission to the intensive care unit. Myocardial dysfunction was classified as left ventricular (LV) diastolic, LV systolic, and right ventricular (RV) dysfunction. Frequency of myocardial dysfunction was calculated, and demographic, hemodynamic, and physiologic variables and mortality were compared between the myocardial dysfunction types and patients without cardiac dysfunction. Results: The frequency of myocardial dysfunction in patients with severe sepsis or septic shock was 64% (nϭ68). Left ventricular diastolic dysfunction was present in 39 patients (37%), LV systolic dysfunction in 29 (27%), and RV dysfunction in 33 (31%). There was significant overlap. The 30-day and 1-year mortality rates were 36% and 57%, respectively. There was no difference in mortality between patients with normal myocardial function and those with left, right, or any ventricular dysfunction. Conclusion: Myocardial dysfunction is frequent in patients with severe sepsis or septic shock and has a wide spectrum including LV diastolic, LV systolic, and RV dysfunction types. Although evaluation for the presence and type of myocardial dysfunction is important for tailoring specific therapy, its presence in patients with severe sepsis and septic shock was not associated with increased 30-day or 1-year mortality. M yocardial dysfunction in sepsis is one of the most complex organ failures to characterize because of the dynamic adaptation of the cardiovascular system to the disease process, host response, and resuscitation. The pathophysiology of this entity is complex and multifactorial. Systemic, extracellular, and cellular mechanisms have been described, including maldistribution of coronary blood flow, cytokine-induced (tumor necrosis factor ␣, interleukin 1␤, interleukin 6) neutrophil activation and myocardial injury, complement (C5a)-triggered myocyte contractile failure, calcium handling dysregulation, and cytopathic hypoxia due to mitochondrial dysfunction.

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A few decades have passed since intensive care unit (ICU) beds have been available for critically ill patients with cancer. Although the initial reports showed dismal prognosis, recent data suggest that an increased number of patients with solid and hematological malignancies benefit from intensive care support, with dramatically decreased mortality rates. Advances in the management of the underlying malignancies and support of organ dysfunctions have led to survival gains in patients with life-threatening complications from the malignancy itself, as well as infectious and toxic adverse effects related to the oncological treatments. In this review, we will appraise the prognostic factors and discuss the overall perspective related to the management of critically ill patients with cancer. The prognostic significance of certain factors has changed over time. For example, neutropenia or autologous bone marrow transplantation (BMT) have less adverse prognostic implications than two decades ago. Similarly, because hematologists and oncologists select patients for ICU admission based on the characteristics of the malignancy, the underlying malignancy rarely influences short-term survival after ICU admission. Since the recent data do not clearly support the benefit of ICU support to unselected critically ill allogeneic BMT recipients, more outcome research is needed in this subgroup. Because of the overall increased survival that has been reported in critically ill patients with cancer, we outline an easy-to-use and evidence-based ICU admission triage criteria that may help avoid depriving life support to patients with cancer who can benefit. Lastly, we propose a research agenda to address unanswered questions.