Outcome of patients with severe asthma in the intensive care unit

Because little has been reported about the outcome of severe asthma outside the US and western Europe, we performed a retrospective case analysis of patients treated in the medical intensive care unit [MICU] of a university hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to determine the management, complications and outcome of severe asthma requiring ICU admission. The records of patients with severe asthma admitted to the MICU between the periods of January 1996 to December 2003 were reviewed. Sixty-one episodes from 54 patients were studied, of which 27 [44%] were male. All patients were hypercapnic; 23 [38%] were ventilated. The Acute Physiological and Health Evaluation [APACHE] score II was significantly higher in the ventilated group [P<0.0001]. The pH was significantly lower and PaC0[2] was significantly higher in the ventilated group [P<0.0001]. All patients survived. Only 42% of patients our series received inhaled corticosteroids before admission. Our results suggest that severe asthma requiring ICU admission is now safely managed in ICUs. Our results are comparable to recently published data on the treatment of severe asthma in the ICU

Significance of D-dimers in newborns to pre-eclamptic mothers

The objective of the study was to compare the concentration of D-dimer in cord blood of neonates born to pre-eclamptic mothers with the cord blood of full term neonates born to healthy mothers. The concentration of D-dimer was assayed by using latex agglutination and semi-quantitative determination of D-dimer in plasma by kit of Stago Diagnostics France. Lady Wallingdon Hospital Lahore. Duration of study: January 2003 to September 2003. The concentration of D-dimer was significantly raised in both pre-term and full term index group as compaxed to the control group However, the concentration of D-dimer was higher in gestational age group 28[th] to 31[st] weeks due to the prematurity. The increased concentration of D-dimer indicates the activation of fibrinolytic system and make it mandatory to observe the neonates up to forty-eight hours so that the hemorrhagic disease of the neonate can be predicted and managed accordingly