The purpose of this study was to define the outcome of patients receiving both renal replacement therapy and mechanical ventilation in 16 Scottish intensive care units over a 2-year period. Patients were identified from the Scottish Intensive Care Society's database. Survivors developing end-stage renal failure were identified after examination of the Scottish Renal Registry's database. Mortali...

BACKGROUND Although early aseptic mechanical failure after total knee arthroplasty has been reported in younger patients, it is unknown whether early revision due to periprosthetic joint infection is more or less frequent in this patient subgroup. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the incidence of early periprosthetic joint infection requiring revision knee surgery is significa...

Mechanical ventilation is the defining event of intensive care unit (ICU) management. Although it is a life saving intervention in patients with acute respiratory failure and other disease entities, a major goal of critical care clinicians should be to liberate patients from mechanical ventilation as early as possible to avoid the multitude of complications and risks associated with prolonged u...

This study applies CT-based structural rigidity analysis (CTRA) to assess failure torque of rat femurs with simulated lytic defects at different locations (proximal and distal femur) and diameters (25% and 50% of the cross-section at the site), and compared the results to those obtained from mechanical testing. Moreover, it aims to compare the correlation coefficients between CTRA-based failure...

BACKGROUND To review the recent advances in ventilatory therapy for acute respiratory failure in children. DATA SOURCES Recent published peer-review articles on mechanical ventilation for acute respiratory failure in children. SUMMARY OF REVIEW Advances in conventional treatment for acute respiratory failure (e.g. mechanical ventilation) have not increased survival in children. However, rec...

Mechanical ventilation in a situation of mass casualty respiratory failure will require a substantial increase in the capacity for mechanical ventilation, to prevent unnecessary mortality. Concern over the difficulties of treating large numbers of patients with respiratory failure is exceeded only by our lack of experience on which to base decisions. This review evaluates the likely scenarios t...

Mechanical circulatory support devices, including ventricular assist devices (VADs) and the total artificial heart, have evolved to become accepted therapeutic options for patients with severe congestive heart failure. Continuous-flow left VADs are the most prevalent option for mechanical circulatory assistance and reliably provide years of support. However, problems related to acute and chroni...

To the Editor: INTRODUCTION The most common reasons for revision or removal of permanent spinal cord stimulator leads are infection and mechanical failure. Most mechanical failures involve displacement of an intact lead or a fracture of the wires within one or both electrodes. This is the report of a case of catastrophic failure of a paddle lead. The implications regarding certain fixation tech...

Smart, electronic textiles are often exposed to tensile stress which can lead to fracture of the interwoven conducting yarns. In this study, a model is proposed to relate the extensibility of the conducting yarns to the weaving pattern of the textile – in particular to the thickness and pitch of the textile yarns. The model is validated by simultaneous mechanical and electrical tests on bare ya...