BACKGROUND The implementation of structural adjustment programs (SAPs) in developing countries has been followed by a marked reduction in their progress on economic growth, health outcomes, and social indicators. Comprehensive and contextualized explorations of the effects of SAPs are needed to assist health and social policy-makers in better determining responses to such programs that continue...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate SAPS 3 performance in Spain, assessing discrimination and calibration in a multicenter study. DESIGN A prospective, multicenter study was carried out. PATIENTS AND SETTING A prospective cohort study was performed in Spanish hospitals between 2006 and 2011. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS A total of 2171 patients were included in the study. The mean age was 61.4±16.09 years,...

BACKGROUND Although the use of cardiac extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is increasing in adult patients, the field lacks understanding of associated risk factors. While standard intensive care unit risk scores such as SAPS II (simplified acute physiology score II), SOFA (sequential organ failure assessment), and APACHE II (acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II), or disease...

BACKGROUND & AIMS Cirrhotic patients admitted to an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) have a poor prognosis. Identifying patients in whom ICU care will be useful can be challenging. The aim of this study was to assess the predictive value of prognostic scores with respect to mortality and to identify mortality risk factors. METHODS Three hundred and seventy-seven cirrhotic patients admitted to a Live...

Results From October to December a community outbreak of Legionnaire’s disease infected 375 patients. Sequencebased typing of clinical and environmental isolates confirmed industrial wet cooling systems as the source of infection. Seventy-six patients were treated at our hospital, of which twenty-four demanded ICU admission, mainly due to severe hypoxemic respiratory failure. Median age were 56...

OBJECTIVES Poor survival of patients with a haematological malignancy admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) prompts for proper admission triage and prediction of ICU treatment failure and long-term mortality. We therefore tried to find predictors of the latter outcomes. METHODS A retrospective analysis of charts and a prospective follow-up study were done, of haemato-oncological patients,...

OBJECTIVE To study the characteristics, evolution and prognosis of patients with infectious endocarditis requiring treatment in the Intensive Care Unit. DESIGN A prospective, observational cohort study of patients admitted due to infectious endocarditis. SETTING Nuestra Señora de Candelaria University Hospital, a third - level center with a recruitment population of 493,145. PATIENTS All ...