Critical Care News and Research

RSS

Improved respiratory health in Mexican women who use vented stoves

Women in Central Mexico who used a vented stove instead of the traditional indoor open fire, experienced improved respiratory health on par with a pack-a-day smoker kicking the habit, according to a recent study.

23 Sep 2009

New method to identify active tuberculosis in patients

Active tuberculosis can be rapidly identified in patients with negative sputum tests by a new method, according to European researchers. Active tuberculosis (TB) is the seventh-leading cause of death worldwide, and while the diagnosis of active TB can be rapidly established when the bacteria can be identified on sputum microscopy, in about half of all cases, the TB bacterium cannot be detected, making another diagnostic option critical in efforts to control the spread of TB.

23 Sep 2009

New method to diagnose active tuberculosis

23 Sep 2009

Vicor's PD2i heart-rate complexity metric to be tested on trauma patients in U.S. Army's C3E program

David H. Fater, CEO of Vicor Technologies, Inc. (OTCBB: VCRT), today announced that Colonel Leopoldo Cancio of the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research (USAISR) identified its PD2i as a heart rate complexity metric that will be tested on trauma patients under the new Critical Combat Care Engineering (C3E) program.

23 Sep 2009

ONA appeals against Ministry of Labour's decision in London nurse's death investigation

The Ontario Nurses' Association (ONA) is appealing the decision by a Ministry of Labour inspector to not issue orders against London Health Sciences Centre or make recommendations for improvements in procedures and practices following the death of one of its registered nurses of methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

22 Sep 2009

Winners of "Passion & Results" Award announced by Instrumentation Laboratory

Instrumentation Laboratory (IL) today announced the three recipients of their "Passion & Results" Award. The winners were presented with their awards by IL during ceremonies at the Congress for the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH) held in Boston, MA, July 11-16 and at the Annual Meeting for the American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC), in Chicago, IL, July 19-23.

22 Sep 2009

Mild exercises for the bed-bound patients helps to combat muscle wasting

Critical care experts at Johns Hopkins are reporting initial success in boosting recovery and combating muscle wasting among critically ill, mostly bed-bound patients using any one of a trio of mild physical therapy exercises during their stays in the intensive care unit (ICU).

22 Sep 2009

Tregs to set the pace of recovery after serious lung injury

After more than 50 experiments in mice, medical scientists at Johns Hopkins have mapped out the basic steps taken by a particular set of white blood cells in setting the pace of recovery after serious lung injury.

22 Sep 2009

Children’s Health Network acquired by MEDNAX

MEDNAX, Inc. (NYSE: MD) has completed the acquisition of Children’s Health Network (CHN), a physician group practice that provides a variety of inpatient pediatric physician services at 11 hospitals in four states.

21 Sep 2009

APP Pharmaceuticals announces FDA marketing approval of Deferoxamine Mesylate

APP Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Fresenius Kabi Pharmaceuticals Holding, Inc., (NASDAQ:APCVZ) announced today that it has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market Deferoxamine Mesylate for Injection, USP, in two dosage strengths. Deferoxamine Mesylate is therapeutically equivalent to the reference-listed drug Desferal®, which is marketed by the innovator Novartis.

17 Sep 2009

Genetically removing the osteopontin protein prevents lung diseases

In a development that could lead to a novel approach to the treatment of a devastating lung disease, biochemists at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston report they are the first to link the osteopontin (OPN) protein to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

16 Sep 2009

Talecris launches initial public offering of shares

Talecris Biotherapeutics Holdings Corp. (“Talecris”) today announced the launch of its initial public offering of 44,736,842 shares of its common stock, par value $0.01 per share.

15 Sep 2009

Risk for patients contracting pneumonia increases threefold when treated with pantoprazole: Study

A popular stomach-acid reducer used to prevent stress ulcers in critically ill patients needing breathing machine support increases the risk of those patients contracting pneumonia threefold, according to researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

15 Sep 2009

Nebulized interferon-gamma helps minimize transmissibility of TB

A new study published in the September 15, 2009, issue of PLoS ONE found that patients with cavitary pulmonary tuberculosis receiving anti-TB medications supplemented with nebulized interferon-gamma have fewer bacilli in the lungs and less inflammation, thereby reducing the transmissibility of tuberculosis in the early phase of treatment.

15 Sep 2009

Positive results from Transave's Phase II clinical trial of ARIKACE in non-CF bronchiectasis patients

Transave, Inc., today reported positive results from a Phase II clinical trial in non-cystic fibrosis (CF) bronchiectasis patients for its lead investigational drug, ARIKACE(TM) (liposomal amikacin for inhalation). The Phase II data indicated that ARIKACE, delivered once daily for 28 consecutive days, demonstrated superior clinical benefit compared to placebo as measured by patient and physician reported outcomes and reduction in Pseudomonas aeruginosa density.

14 Sep 2009

Capsule launches new Enterprise Medical Device Connectivity Solution

Capsule (www.capsuletech.com), the leading provider of medical device connectivity, today announces the release of their new Enterprise Medical Device Connectivity Solution enabled by the Capsule Neuron™.

10 Sep 2009

Top 10 U.S.hospitals prefer Arctic Sun temperature management system

The number of Arctic Sun(R) users among hospitals ranked top 20 jumped to 90 percent this year from 72 percent last year, Medivance announced today. All top 10 "best hospitals" prefer the ease and safety of its advanced non-invasive method for rapid, controlled temperature reduction followed by slow rewarming.

9 Sep 2009

Genetic risk factor involved in cystic fibrosis discovered

Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have discovered a genetic risk factor for severe liver disease in people with cystic fibrosis. Those who carry a particular variant of the SERPINA1 gene (also known as alpha-1-antitrypsin or alpha-1-antiprotease) are five times more likely to develop cirrhosis and other liver complications than patients who carry the normal version of the gene.

9 Sep 2009

Benefits of early exposure to daycare not sustainable

New research hints that the common belief that kids who go to daycare have lower rates of asthma and allergy later in life might be nothing more than wishful thinking. While young children in daycare definitely do get more illnesses and experience more respiratory symptoms as a result, any perceived protection these exposures afford against asthma and allergy seem to disappear by the time the child hits the age of eight.

8 Sep 2009

COPD patients to have better protection against pneumonia with new vaccine

A new vaccine against pneumonia may offer better protection from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients than the currently accepted vaccine, according to recent research that will be published in the September 15 issue of the American Journal of the Respiratory and Critical Care Journal, a publication of the American Thoracic Society.

8 Sep 2009