Ultrasound technology is an essential tool in the management of critically ill patients. Point-of-care ultrasonography (POCUS) enables data collection from different anatomic areas to achieve the most probable diagnosis and administer the right therapy at the right time. Despite the increasing utilization of POCUS, there is still a lack of standards to establish how to use different bedside ultrasound protocols, and it is imperative to develop a unifying protocol. Thus, the aim of this paper is to establish a new systematized approach that can be adopted by all physicians to implement POCUS for critically ill patient management. To achieve this, we propose a new systematized approach—Global Ultrasound Check for the Critically Ill (GUCCI)—that integrates multiple protocols. This protocol is organized based on three syndromes (acute respiratory failure, shock, and cardiac arrest) and includes ultrasound-guided procedures.
Although septic embolization associated with infective endocarditis is relatively frequent, mycotic cerebral aneurysms are a rare and potentially fatal complication. The authors report the case of a woman admitted with a cerebral haemorrhage due to mycotic aneurysm rupture, which led to a subacute infective endocarditis diagnosis. The patient underwent craniotomy with aneurysm excision and mitral valvuloplasty due to severe valvular insufficiency, with a favorable clinical outcome. The authors make a brief review, highlighting the challenge of the management of these patients, especially at surgical approach, which requires an individualized therapy strategy based on patient evolution.
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