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Introduction. Delirium not only compromises patient care, but is also associated with poorer outcomes: increased duration of mechanical ventilation, higher mortality, and greater long-term cognitive dysfunction. The PRE-DELIRIC model is a tool used to calculate the risk of the development of delirium. The classification of the patients into groups by risk allows efficient initiation of preventive measures. The goal of this study was to validate the PRE-DELIRIC model using the CAM-ICU (The Confusion Assessment Method for the Intensive Care Unit) method for the diagnosis of delirium. Materials and methods. Patients admitted to the University Hospital of Vilnius during February 2015 were enrolled. Every day, data were collected for APACHE-II and PRE-DELIRIC scores. Out of 167 patients, 38 (23%) were included and screened using the CAM-ICU method within 24 hours of admission to the ICU. We defined patients as having delirium when they had at least one positive CAM-ICU screening or haloperidol administration due to sedation. To validate the PRE-DELIRIC model, we calculated the area under receiver operating characteristic curve. Results. The mean age of the patients was 69.2 ± 17.2 years, 19 (50%) were male, APACHE-II mean score 18.0 ± 7.4 points. Delirium was diagnosed in 22 (58%) of 38 patients. Data used for validation of the PRE-DELIRIC model resulted in an area under the curve of 0.713 (p < 0.05, 95% CI 0.539-0.887); sensitivity and specificity for the patients with 20% risk were, accordingly, 77.3% and 50%; 40% risk - 45.5% and 81.3%, 60% - 36.4%, and 87.5%. Conclusions. The PRE-DELIRIC model predicted delirium in the patients within 24 hours of admission to the ICU. Preventive therapy could be efficiently targeted at high-risk patients if both of the methods are to be implemented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Thrombolysis is often the only way in treating people with life-threatening conditions, like acute myocardial infarction (AMI), pulmonary embolism (PE) and acute ischemic stroke (AIS). Complications of thrombolytic therapy are not rare and have clear influence in the quality of life, hospital stay, outcomes and mortality. Most common complications are intracranial hemorrhage, severe injection site, nose, vaginal bleeding and peripheral hematomas. Methods and materials. A retrospective study took place in the Department of Intensive Care, Hospital of Lithuanian University of Health Sciences Kaunas Clinics. Medical data of 83 patients, who underwent treatment with thrombolytic drugs in the period of 2007-2011, were analyzed. All patients were treated with intravenous infusion of Alteplase. Inclusion criteria were as follows: · AMI, AIS or PE treatable with thrombolytic therapy. Results. 72.3% (n = 60) of patients experienced massive PE, 13.3% (n = 11) AMI and 14.4% (n = 12) AIS. There were 8.43% (n = 7) of patients who had bleeding complications - 2.4% (n = 2) experienced nose bleed during or shortly after thrombolytic therapy, 3.6% (n = 3) had injection site bleeding and 1.2% (n = 1) experienced multiple skin hemorrhages. 11.7% (n = 7) of patients in the group of massive PE were thrombolised during CPR and only one of them experienced bleeding to the pleural cavity. There were no internal or external bleeding observed neither in AMI nor in AIS groups. In-hospital mortality after thrombolytic therapy was 20.5% (n = 17). Conclusions. Thrombolytic therapy very often is the only way in treating acute, life-threatening diseases, like acute myocardial infarction, pulmonary embolism or acute ischemic stroke. Intracranial hemorrhage, injection site, nose, vaginal bleeding and peripheral hematomas are the most common complications of thrombolysis. Risk factors should be evaluated before starting the thrombolytic therapy. Data of our hospital experience do not dramatically differ from worldwide data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]