Articles

A comparison between dosages and plasma concentrations of dexmedetomidine in clinically ill patients: a prospective, observational, cohort study in Japan

Dexmedetomidine is a highly selective central α₂-agonist with anesthetic and analgesic properties for patients in intensive care units. There is little information about the relationship between dosage and plasma...

Authors: Yoshihito Fujita, Koichi Inoue, Tasuku Sakamoto, Saya Yoshizawa, Maiko Tomita, Yoshie Maeda, Hitomi Taka, Ai Muramatsu, Youichiro Hattori, Hiroyuki Hirate, Toshimasa Toyo'oka and Kazuya Sobue

Neutrophil cell death in response to infection and its relation to coagulation

Neutrophil is a major player in the pathophysiology of severe sepsis. Recent studies have revealed that the cell death mechanism of neutrophils directly relates to the development of organ dysfunction during s...

Authors: Toshiaki Iba, Naoyuki Hashiguchi, Isao Nagaoka, Yoko Tabe and Miwa Murai

Effects of epinephrine administration in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest based on a propensity analysis

Epinephrine administration has been advocated for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for decades. Despite the fact that epinephrine administration during CPR is internationally accepted, the effects of the pr...

Authors: Mineji Hayakawa, Satoshi Gando, Hirotoshi Mizuno, Yasufumi Asai, Yasuo Shichinohe, Isao Takahashi and Hiroshi Makise

Limitations of global end-diastolic volume index as a parameter of cardiac preload in the early phase of severe sepsis: a subgroup analysis of a multicenter, prospective observational study

In patients with severe sepsis, depression of cardiac performance is common and is often associated with left ventricular (LV) dilatation to maintain stroke volume. Although it is essential to optimize cardiac...

Authors: Tomoyuki Endo, Shigeki Kushimoto, Satoshi Yamanouchi, Teruo Sakamoto, Hiroyasu Ishikura, Yasuhide Kitazawa, Yasuhiko Taira, Kazuo Okuchi, Takashi Tagami, Akihiro Watanabe, Junko Yamaguchi, Kazuhide Yoshikawa, Manabu Sugita, Yoichi Kase, Takashi Kanemura, Hiroyuki Takahashi…

Is wet swab superior to dry swab as an intranasal screening test?

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is still a great concern, and recognition of the carrier is essential for appropriate infection control in intensive care units. The utility of wet swab compared to dry...

Authors: Hideharu Hagiya, Mitsunobu Mio, Tomoko Murase, Keiko Egawa, Yumi Kokumai, Taeko Uchida, Naoki Morimoto, Fumio Otsuka and Sumiko Shiota

Subcutaneous emphysema and ultrasound sonography

Subcutaneous emphysema is not a rare complication in intensive care unit patients. Recently, ultrasound guidance for central venous puncture is becoming popular; however, the information on imaging for subcuta...

Authors: Toshi Kubodera, Yushi U Adachi, Toshiyuki Hatano, Tadashi Ejima, Atsushi Numaguchi and Naoyuki Matsuda

A case of Strongyloides hyperinfection associated with tuberculosis

Strongyloidiasis is a parasitic infection that occurs in tropical regions. Hyperinfection, which is an accelerated autoinfection, is often associated with an immunosuppressive state, such as HTLV-1 infection o...

Authors: Yoshiaki Iwashita, Kei Suzuki, Asami Masui, Eiji Kawamoto, Kazuto Yokoyama, Akitaka Yamamoto, Yukinari Omori, Ken Ishikura, Tsuyoshi Hatada, Masaki Fujioka, Taichi Takeda and Hiroshi Imai

Temperature of gas delivered from ventilators

Although heated humidifiers (HHs) are the most efficient humidifying device for mechanical ventilation, some HHs do not provide sufficient humidification when the inlet temperature to the water chamber is high...

Authors: Yusuke Chikata, Mutsuo Onodera, Hideaki Imanaka and Masaji Nishimura

Evaluating the fundamental critical care support course in critical care education in Japan: a survey of Japanese fundamental critical care support course experience

The Fundamental Critical Care Support (FCCS) course has been introduced after minimal adaptation according to Japanese clinical settings. The original course in the USA is often used to prepare residents for r...

Authors: Kazuaki Atagi, Shinichi Nishi, Shigeki Fujitani, Takamitsu Kodama, Junya Ishikawa and Hideki Shimaoka

Efficacy of single-dose intravenous immunoglobulin administration for severe sepsis and septic shock

Although some studies conducted outside of Japan have addressed the effectiveness of intravenous immunoglobulins (IVIG) in treating infections, the dosing regimens and amounts used in Japan are very different ...

Authors: Nobuyuki Hamano, Kenichiro Nishi, Aki Onose, Akihisa Okamoto, Takeshi Umegaki, Etsuko Yamazaki, Kiichi Hirota, Hiroe Ookura, Hakuo Takahashi and Koh Shingu

Arbekacin treatment of a patient infected with a Pseudomonas putida producing a metallo-beta-lactamase

Treatment of infections caused by multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas species is difficult because few antibiotics active against such organisms are available. Arbekacin, a relatively new aminoglycoside, is effective...

Authors: Yoshiaki Iwashita, Tomoyuki Enokiya, Kei Suzuki, Kazuto Yokoyama, Akitaka Yamamoto, Ken Ishikura, Masahiro Okuda and Hiroshi Imai

Evaluation of semi-quantitative scoring of Gram staining or semi-quantitative culture for the diagnosis of ventilator-associated pneumonia: a retrospective comparison with quantitative culture

Semi-quantitative Gram stain and culture methods are still commonly used for diagnosing ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), due to its convenience. Only a few studies, however, have assessed the reliability...

Authors: Soshi Hashimoto and Nobuaki Shime

Journal of Intensive Care: a new journal for all intensive care physicians

Authors: Satoshi Gando