Rationale: Lung injury caused by a ventilator results from nonphysiologic lung stress (transpulmonary pressure) and strain (inflated volume to functional residual capacity ratio). Objectives: To determine whether plateau pressure and tidal volume are adequate surrogates for stress and strain, and to quantify the stress to strain relationship in patients and control subjects.

The epidemiology of traumatic brain injury (TBI) is changing in several Western countries, with an increasing proportion of elderly TBI patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). We describe a series of 1366 adult patients admitted to three neuro-ICUs in which 44% of cases were 50 years of age or older. The health status before trauma (rated using the APACHE score) was worse in older patients. In all 604 patients had emergency removal of intracranial masses, with extradural hematomas more frequent in young cases and subdural hematomas more frequent in older patients. Outcomes were classified according to the Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) 6 months post-trauma, as favorable (GOS score 4-5), or unfavorable (GOS score 1-3). Favorable outcomes were achieved by 50% of patients, but the proportions of unfavorable outcomes rose with age. Mortality was the main cause of unfavorable outcomes 6 months after injury in older patients. Logistic regression analysis indicates that several parameters independently contributed to outcome, including the motor component of the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), pupils, CT findings, and early hypotension. Additionally, the odds ratios were very high for age and health status before TBI. Patients admitted to the ICU are increasingly older, have co-morbidities, and have specific types of intracranial lesions. Early rescue, surgical treatment, and intensive care of these patients may produce excellent results up to the age of 59 years, with favorable outcomes still possible for 39% of cases aged 60-69 years, without an excessive burden of severely disabled patients.

Clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT01670747 ( www.clinicaltrials.gov ).

Introduction Autophagy is well known as one of the biogenic responses against various stresses, which possesses the benefi cial roles for survival, but little is known about the dynamics and its signifi cance during the septic condition. We hypothesized that autophagy is induced during the septic condition, and contributes to protect from tissue damage which subsequently leads to organ dysfunction. We confi rm whether the autophagic process is accelerated or sustained in an acute phase of sepsis and we also determine its physiological role. Methods Sepsis was induced by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) in mice. We examined the kinetics of autophagosome and auto lysosome formation which may explain the status of autophagy by western blotting, immunohistochemistry, and electron microscopy. To investigate a precise role of autophagy in CLP-induced sepsis, chloroquine, an autophagy inhibitor, was administered to the CLP-operated mice, and blood chemistry, pathology of the liver and survival were evaluated. Results Autophagy demonstrated by the ratio of LC3-II/LC3-I was induced over the time course up to 24 hours after CLP. The ratio was particularly increased in the liver, heart and spleen. Autophagosome formation became maximal at 6 hours and declined by 24 hours after CLP. Autolysosome formation as evaluated by both fusion of GFP-LC3 dots with LAMP1 immunohistochemistry and electron microscopy was also increased after the procedure. Furthermore, inhibition of autophagy by chloroquine during the CLP procedure resulted in elevation of serum AST levels, and signifi cantly increased mortality in mice. Conclusion Autophagy was induced in several organs over the time course of the CLP sepsis model and then the process was gradually completed to degradation of the components. Our data suggest autophagy plays a protective role in organ dysfunction in sepsis. P2Reversible depressive eff ect of TNFα on a model of isolated perfused rat heart BV Nguyen Introduction Acute myocardial depression in septic shock is common [1]. Myocardial depression is mediated by circulating depressant substances, which until now have been incompletely characterized [2].The aim of our study was to observe the eff ects of TNFα on the model of perfused rat heart. Methods After profound anesthesia with pentothal, the Wistar rats were killed by exsanguination. After sternotomy, the heart was taken and connected to the Langendorf column. The apex of the heart was hooked to a strength sensor. Biopac student laboratory software was used to record and analyse heart contractions. Contractions were recorded every 5 minutes during periods of 20 minutes. Control measurements were fi rst recorded. We measured four parameters: heart rate, contraction force, speeds of contraction and relaxation for control, during TNFα (20 ng/ml) exposure and after removal of TNFα. We express the variations of parameters as percentage of the control ± SEM. A paired t test was used to compare heart rate, contraction amplitude, speeds of contraction and relaxation with TNFα and ...

Pyrexia is extremely frequent in the acute phase after head injury. Its incidence is higher in more severe cases and is correlated with a longer ICU stay. It may affect ICP, but its contribution is difficult to assess when other major causes of increased intracranial volume are present. Antipyretic therapy is poorly effective for controlling body temperature and may be deleterious for CPP.