[Artificial nutrition and preoperative fasting]. / La nutrition artificielle et le jeûne préopératoire.

Preoperative fasting is a currently adopted measure since Mendelson's report pertaining to aspiration pneumonia as a cause of death following general anesthesia. From a metabolic point of view fasting is detrimental because surgery in itself causes a state of hypercatabolism and hyperglycemia as a result of insulinresistance. Preoperative fasting has become almost obsolete in certain elective surgical procedures. In these cases the use of clear liquids is now well established and this paper focuses on the safe use of clear fluids, postoperative insulinresistance, patient comfort and postoperative outcome as well as its effect on the length of stay.

Is there a correlation between circulating levels of citrulline and intestinal dysfunction in the critically ill?

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess the correlation between plasma citrulline and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) score, survival, inflammation (C-reactive protein [CRP]), inotrope use, serum levels of prealbumin and albumin, and renal failure in the critically ill patient. METHODS: This prospective observational single-center controlled study included 91 adult patients over a 2-year period. Inclusion criteria were patients staying in the intensive care unit for >48 hours. Patients' renal status was categorized as those with a glomerular filtration rate (GFR) >60 mL/min without renal support, a GFR >60 mL/min with renal support, a GFR <60 mL/min without renal support, and a GFR <60 mL/min with renal support. Plasma citrulline concentrations were categorized into 3 groups: low (0-15 µmol/L), medium (16-35 µmol/L), and high (>36 µmol/L). The relationship between the recorded parameters and these different cut-off values of plasma citrulline concentrations was analyzed. RESULTS: Ninety-one patients (34% female and 66% male) with a mean (SD) age of 69.3 (11.9) years, a mean (SD) body mass index of 24.8 (5.34) kg/m(2), a mean (SD) APACHE II score of 22.4 (7.92), a mean (SD) SOFA score of 8 (4.4), and a mean (SD) plasma citrulline of 21.7 (13.1) µmol/L were enrolled. Only patients with intestinal dysfunction had low plasma citrulline level <15 µmol/L (P = .014). No correlations between serum levels of CRP, albumin, or prealbumin; renal failure; inotrope use; SOFA score; and APACHE II score were found with plasma citrulline level. CONCLUSION: Low plasma citrulline levels in patients correlate well with intestinal dysfunction.

Coexistence of renal malakoplakia and myelodysplastic syndrome.

Malakoplakia is a protean systemic chronic granulomatous disease that usually targets the genito-urinary system and most particularly the bladder. Only in rare occasions do the kidneys get involved. Myelodysplastic syndrome is a heterogeneous clonal haematopoietic disorder characterised by either a hyper- or hypocellular bone marrow dysmyelopoiesis and peripheral blood pancytopenia. The synchronous association of these two unrelated disorders has never been reported. We report a 62-year-old woman who initially developed vague, relapsing gastrointestinal symptoms synchronous with renal malakoplakia and myelodysplastic syndrome.

A delayed fatal metastatic Hürthle cell carcinoma.

Hürthle (oxyphilic or oncocytic) cell carcinoma is a variant of follicular cell carcinoma of thyroid. Although this entity of thyroid cancer is well known, its occurrence in young patients has scarcely been reported. We report a case of a 26 year-old male patient, at the time of diagnosis, of Turkish origin, who developed a tracheal, pulmonary and mediastinal metastatic Hürthle cell carcinoma with bilateral cervical and mediastinal lymphadenopathies. This case illustrates an aggressive and metastatic cancer at the time of diagnosis and resistant to all treatment options including surgery, chemotherapy and radioactive iodine.

A late complication of percutaneous radial artery cannulation.

Radial artery pseudoaneurysms occurring as a late complication of percutaneous radial artery cannulation are rare, while those which are infected are exceptional. Known risk factors are age-related with patients being in their seventies and onwards, the duration of the radial artery catheter and staphylococcal catheter-related infections. We report the case of an 82-year-old patient who developed a mycotic radial artery pseudoaneurysm as a late complication of arterial catheterization.

A study to determine the correlation between clinical, fiber-optic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing and videofluoroscopic evaluations of swallowing after prolonged intubation.

BACKGROUND: Clinical evaluation of swallowing disorders postextubation is often neglected. Videofluoroscopy is the gold standard with fiber-optic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES) having a high sensitivity. The aim of this study was to analyze the correlations between clinical, FEES, and videofluoroscopic evaluations in the intensive care unit. METHODS: Twenty-one patients extubated after prolonged intubation were subjected to a clinical evaluation of swallowing and FEES within 24 hours. This was repeated at 48 hours with a videofluoroscopic evaluation with identical swallowing-namely, boluses of liquid and thickened water. The patients were scored from 0 (normal) to 3 (worst). RESULTS: There was no correlation between the oral phase (bedside evaluation) and FEES. The correlation between pharyngeal phase (palatal and laryngeal elevation, pharyngeal rales, and gag reflex) before and after swallowing at 24 and 48 hours was statistically significant (liquid water P = .025 [24 hours] vs P < .001 [48 hours]; thickened water P < .001 [24 and 48 hours]). Clinical assessment, although not statistically significant, failed to detect silent aspiration (P = .58). There was a good correlation between FEES and videofluoroscopy as opposed to clinical assessment and videofluoroscopy (P < .001 vs P = .762). CONCLUSION: Cough is a reliable sign of swallowing disorder but does not exclude silent aspiration and contraindicates oral feeding. Cough induced by liquid water should lead to modification of diet in terms of consistency and viscosity with cough reassessment.

Late onset of Aspergillus aortitis presenting as femoral artery embolism following coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

Aspergillus sp. are ubiquitous mould infections and in most patients, the source is presumed to be air-borne infections during surgical procedures. Prevention of these infections requires special attention of ventilation systems in operating rooms. Post-operative aspergillosis occurs mainly in immunocompromised patients as well as those who receive corticosteroids temporarily. We report a case of a 71-year-old immunocompromised patient who developed multiple lower limb embolisms due to Aspergillus niger originating from an aortitis of the ascending aorta nine months following coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery.

Retained foreign body in ethmoid with bilateral pneumoencephaly.

Intracranial penetrating injury through the nose is rare. We present a case of a 79 year-old patient who had intracranial penetrating injury with a wooden object accompanied by massive bilateral pneumoencephaly with the presence of a foreign body in the ethmoid bone with fracture and displacement of crista galli. This is a hitherto unreported retained foreign body with fractured ethmoid resulting in bilateral pneumoencephaly.

[Do not resuscitate orders in the intensive care setting]. / L'ordre de ne pas réanimer aux soins intensifs.

Even if Belgium (2002), The Netherlands (2002) and Luxemburg (2009) are the first three countries in the world to have legalized active euthanasia, there still is not a law on the do not resuscitate concept (NTBR or DNR). Nevertheless, numerous royal decrees and some consensus as well as advice given by the Belgian Medical Council, hold as jurisprudence. These rules remain amenable to change so as to suite the daily practice in intensive care units. This article describes the actual Belgian legal environment surrounding the intensive care specialist when he has to take such decisions.

Plasma levels of ICAM-1 and circulating endothelial cells are elevated in unstable types 1 and 2 diabetes.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the expression and release of vascular cell-adhesion molecule (VCAM)-1, intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1, endothelial leukocyte adhesion molecule (ELAM)-1 and von Willebrand factor (vWF), as well as circulating endothelial cells (CEC) and circulating endothelial progenitor cells (CEPC), as markers of endothelial dysfunction in uncontrolled, well controlled types 1 and 2 diabetic patients and non diabetic patients. METHODS: In this observational trans section study, soluble adhesion molecules concentrations were measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assays and flow cytometry to detect circulating cells in 49 patients, stratified in 3 groups: G1: uncontrolled types 1 and 2 diabetic patients (n=16); G2: well controlled diabetic (types 1 and 2) patients (n=13); and G3: non diabetic patients (n=20), of whom a blood sample was obtained on admission. RESULTS: ICAM-1 increased significantly in uncontrolled versus well controlled and non diabetic patients (721 vs. 702.45 vs. 473.46 ng/ml, p=0.016). In unstable diabetic patients, CEC were higher than in the well controlled ones (7.75 vs. 4.3/ml, p=0.386) whereas CEPC were lower in unstable diabetics (56.5 vs. 72/ml, p=0.068). CONCLUSIONS: This study showed a continuous rise in ICAM-1 and CEC levels as stable, well controlled diabetic patients shift towards decompensation. In unstable diabetic patients, the relationship between CEC and CEPC can be represented as [CEC] alpha 1/[CEPC].