No abstract

When adjusted for risk-exposure time and severity at admission and during the ICU stay, BSI was associated with a 3-fold increase in mortality, but considerable variation occurred across BSI subgroups. Focusing on BSI subgroups may be valuable for assessing quality of care in ICUs.

Delayed clinical suspicion and treatment of active pulmonary TB with respiratory failure may contribute to the persistently high mortality rates in ICU patients with these diseases.

In critically ill cancer patients with ARF, a diagnostic strategy that does not include FO-BAL may be as effective as FO-BAL without exposing the patients to respiratory status deterioration.