Purpose To explore the association between presence of subretinal drusenoid deposits (SDD) at baseline in eyes with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) with the development of macular atrophy (MA) during anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapy. Methods There were 74 eyes without pre-existing MA receiving anti-VEGF therapy for nAMD for 2 years or longer analyzed....

BACKGROUND Evidence supporting selective decontamination of the digestive tract (SDD) is reasonably strong. We set out to determine use in UK critical care units and to compare patient outcomes between units that do and those that do not use SDD. METHODS A total of 250 UK general critical care units were surveyed. Case mix, outcomes, and lengths of stay for admissions to SDD units (with and w...

BACKGROUND Selective decontamination of the digestive tract (SDD) to eliminate gram-negative bacteria is still not widely accepted, although it reduces the incidence of nosocomial infections. In a previous retrospective study, a clear benefit to perioperative morbidity, and a reduction in nosocomial infections were found in patients who underwent an esophageal anastomosis. Thus, SDD was applied...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate whether selective digestive decontamination (SDD) reduces mortality from any cause, and the incidence of pneumonia among patients with severe burns. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA SDD is a prophylactic strategy to reduce infectious morbidity and mortality in critically ill patients. Two meta-analyses and a recent randomized controlled trial demonstrated a mortality reduction va...

Selective decontamination of the digestive tract (SDD) has been subject of numerous randomized controlled trials in critically ill patients. Almost all clinical trials showed SDD to prevent pneumonia. Nevertheless, SDD has remained a controversial strategy. One reason for why clinicians remained reluctant to implement SDD into daily practice could be that mortality was reduced in only 2 trials....

Background: Infectious complications remain a major concern in critically ill patients. Preventive measures are clearly better than treatment. Selective decontamination (SDD) of the upper digestive tract is one method that has had mixed results. Numerous questions exist as to whether or not gastrointestinal (GI) decontamination should be routine or not. Objective: To determine the effectiveness...

Several emotional responses may be invoked in critical care physicians when confronted with selective decontamination of the digestive tract (SDD). Although recent meta-analyses have shown that the use of SDD reduces the occurrence of ventilator-associated pneumonia and improves ICU survival, the effectiveness of SDD has remained controversial. We recently concluded a large randomized, controll...

Selective digestive decontamination (SDD, topical antibiotic regimens applied to the respiratory tract) appears effective for preventing ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) in intensive care unit (ICU) patients. However, potential contextual effects of SDD on Staphylococcus aureus infections in the ICU remain unclear. The S. aureus ventilator associated pneumonia (S. aureus VAP), VAP overall ...

OBJECTIVES Selective oropharyngeal decontamination (SOD) and selective decontamination of the digestive tract (SDD) are associated with improved outcomes among patients in intensive care units (ICUs), but uncertainty remains about their long-term effects on resistance levels. We determined trends in antibiotic resistance among Gram-negative bacteria in 38 Dutch ICUs using and not using SOD/SDD....

BACKGROUND The selective digestive decontamination (SDD) component antibiotics have activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, an important ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) isolate. Evaluating the relationship between the anti-pseudomonal activity of SDD towards its VAP prevention effect is complicated by postulated indirect effects of SDD mediated in the concurrent control groups. The objec...