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Recent interest in functional hemodynamic monitoring for the bedside assessment of cardiovascular insufficiency has heightened. Functional hemodynamic monitoring is the assessment of the dynamic interactions of hemodynamic variables in response to a defined perturbation. Accordingly, fluid responsiveness can be predicted in a quantities fashion by measuring as arterial pulse pressure variation and left ventricular stroke volume variation during positive pressure breathing or the change in cardiac output response to a passive leg raising maneuver. However, volume responsiveness, though important, reflects only part of the overall spectrum of functional physiological variables that can be measured to define physiologic state and monitor response to therapy. Dynamic tissue O2 saturation (StO2) responses to complete stop flow conditions, which can be created by measuring hand StO2 and occluding flow with a blood pressure cuff, assesses cardiovascular sufficiency and microcirculatory blood flow distribution. Furthermore, these measures can be made increasingly more sensitive and specific if coupled to other "traditional" measures of organ perfusion, such as blood lactate levels.

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Introduction: Guillain-Barré syndrome, an acute polyradiculoneuropathy that presents with weakness and areflexia, is the most common cause of acute flaccid paralysis. In certain patients, respiratory failure is secondary to this disorder, eventually causing patients to require mechanical ventilation and experience additional complications due to diminished respiratory support and related mobility limitations. Prognoses for most of these cases are positive; treatment consists of basic support combined with plasmapheresis or administration of immunoglobulins.Objective: This study sought to describe the socio-demographic, clinical, laboratory and neurophysiological characteristics of patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome who were hospitalised in the Intensive Care Unit of the Neurological Institute of Colombia between 2006 and 2012.Methodology: This study presents a case series. Results: We surveyed 25 patients (32% female and 68% male) with Guillain-Barré syndrome and an average age of 54 years. Sixty per cent of these patients were admitted between days 3 and 7 after symptom onset; 64% had a history of respiratory infection and 20% had a history of intestinal infection. In addition, 84% of the patients presented with albuminocytological dissociation. We observed the following clinical subtypes of Guillain-Barré syndrome: inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy in 32%, acute motor-sensory axonal neuropathy in 28%, acute motor axonal neuropathy in 28%, and Miller Fisher syndrome in 12%. Conclusions:In this descriptive study of a group of critical care patients with GBS, results depended on patients' clinical severity at time of admission. Our findings are similar to results published in the international literature.Conclusiones: Esta descripción corresponde a un grupo de pacientes críticos con SGB; su desenlace estuvo determinado por la severidad del cuadro clínico al ingreso. Nuestros hallazgos son comparables con lo publicado en la literatura mundial.

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Background:We compared the ability of noninvasive measurements of cardiac output (CO) and thoracic fluid content (TFC) and their change in response to orthostatic challenges to diagnose acute decompensate heart failure (ADHF) from non-ADHF causes of acute dyspnea in patients in the ED.Methods:Forty-five patients > 44 years old presenting in the ED with dyspnea were studied. CO and TFC were monitored with a NICOM bioreactance device. CO and TFC were measured continuously while each patient was sitting, supine, and during a passive leg-raising maneuver (3 min each); the maximal values during each maneuver were reported. Orthostatic challenges were repeated 2 h into treatment. One patient was excluded because of intolerance to the supine position. Diagnoses obtained with the hemodynamic measurements were compared with ED diagnoses and with two expert physicians by chart review (used as gold standard diagnosis); both groups were blinded to CO and TFC values. Patient’s treatment, ED disposition, hospital length of stay, and subjective dyspnea (Borg scale) were also recorded.Results:Sixteen of 44 patients received a diagnosis of ADHF and 28 received a diagnosis of non-ADHF by the experts. Baseline TFC was higher in patients with ADHF (P = .001). Fifteen patients were treated for ADHF, and their Borg scale values decreased at 2 h (P < .05). TFC threshold of 78.8 had a receiver operator characteristic area under the curve of 0.81 (76% sensitivity, 71% specificity) for ADHF. Both ADHF and non-ADHF groups were similar in their increased CO from baseline to PLR and supine. Pre- and posttreatment measurements were similar.Conclusions:Baseline TFC can discriminate patients with ADHF from non-ADHF dyspnea in the ED.