The crude incidence of ICU infections remains high, although the rate varies between ICUs and patient subsets, illustrating the added burden of nosocomial infections in the use of ICU resources.

Endotoxin is an important pathogenic trigger for sepsis. The polymyxin B-immobilized endotoxin removal hemoperfusion cartridge, Toraymyxin (hereafter PMX), has been shown to remove endotoxin in preclinical and open-label clinical studies. In a multicenter, open-label, pilot, randomized, controlled study conducted in the intensive care unit in six academic medical centers in Europe, 36 postsurgical patients with severe sepsis or septic shock secondary to intra-abdominal infection were randomized to PMX treatment of 2 h (n = 17) or standard therapy (n = 19). PMX was well tolerated and showed no significant side effects. There were no statistically significant differences in the change in endotoxin levels from baseline to 6 to 8 h after treatment or to 24 h after treatment between the two groups. There was also no significant difference in the change in interleukin (IL)-6 levels from baseline to 6 to 8 h after treatment or to 24 h after treatment between the two groups. Patients treated with PMX demonstrated significant increases in cardiac index (CI; P = 0.012 and 0.032 at days 1 and 2, respectively), left ventricular stroke work index (LVSWI, P = 0.015 at day 2), and oxygen delivery index (DO2I, P = 0.007 at day 2) compared with the controls. The need for continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) after study entry was reduced in the PMX group (P = 0.043). There was no significant difference between the groups in organ dysfunction as assessed by the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) scores from day 0 (baseline) to day 6. Treatment using the PMX cartridge is safe and may improve cardiac and renal dysfunction due to sepsis or septic shock. Further studies are needed to prove this effectiveness.

EIT is a simple bedside technique which enables monitor lung volume changes during ventilatory manoeuvres such as PEEP changes.

Introduction Intensive care unit (ICU) costs account for up to 20% of a hospital's costs. We aimed to analyse the individual patient-related cost of intensive care at various hospital levels and for different groups of disease.

A total of 18 patients with acute lung injury (ALI) were sequentially ventilated with two different modes of mechanical ventilation, each applied for a period of 24 h: (1) volume-controlled inverse ratio ventilation (VC-IRV), (2) airway pressure release ventilation (APRV). The individual sequence of both ventilatory modes was randomized. Ventilatory minute volume was adjusted for a PaCO2 of 35 to 45 mm Hg at the beginning of the study during the first ventilatory mode and then kept constant within preset limits. Hemodynamic variables were stable and similar during the 24-h periods of VC-IRV and APRV as well. Despite the lower sedation and spontaneous breathing during APRV, oxygen uptake was similar during both ventilatory modes. During the 24-h period of VC-IRV there was no relevant change of either airway pressures, alveolo-arterial O2 tension difference (AaDO2)/fraction of inspired oxygen (FIO2) or venous admixture. In contrast, peak airway pressures (Pawmax) during APRV were significantly lower (about 30%; p < 0.01), and decreased further within 24 h (p < 0.05). During APRV AaDO2/FIO2 and venous admixture improved significantly with time after more than 8 h (AaDO2/FIO2: 487 versus 414 mm Hg; p < 0.01; venous admixture: 20.6 versus 13.9%; p < 0.01; medians of onset versus end). The improvement was significantly different between both ventilatory modes (p < 0.01). We conclude that this indicates a progressive alveolar recruitment over time during ventilation with APRV.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

F-EIT determined the redistribution of lung ventilation during different modes of mechanical ventilation. We expect that f-EIT will become a useful noninvasive bedside monitoring technique for imaging regional ventilation in pulmonary diseased patients during mechanical ventilation.

Since high concentrations of H2O2 in breath condensate were only found in patients with ARDS or with risk factors for ARDS, the results add to the existing evidence that reactive oxygen species are associated with some acute lung diseases.

Mean values of breathing pattern did not differ by a large amount between the investigated modes. However, the higher variability of V(T) during PAV indicates an increased ability of the patients to control V(T) in response to alterations in respiratory demand. A reduction in assist during PAV(50) resulted in an increase in WOB and indices of patient effort.