The LITFL Critical Care Compendium is a comprehensive collection of pages concisely covering the core topics and controversies of critical care.
OVERVIEW ACTIONS CAUSES CLINICAL FEATURES Dry Beri-Beri Wernicke encephalopathy Korsakoff encephalopathy Wet Beri-Beri INVESTIGATIONS MANAGEMENT Prevention and treatment of thiamine deficiency Prevention and treatment of thiamine deficiency in severe alcoholics Treatment of Wernicke encephalopathy Supportive care monitoring SHOULD THIAMINE BE…
Acute Fatty Liver of Pregnancy: hepatic dysfunction + microvesicular infiltration of hepatocytes; thought to be a variant of PET; fetal and maternal mortality = 20%
Amniotic Fluid Embolism (AFE): diagnosis of exclusion; amniotic in maternal circulation not always pathognomonic; 1:25,000 live births
Acute Respiratory Failure and Obstetrics
Burns and Pregnancy: at risk of premature labour due to high levels of circulating prostaglandins; fluid replacement must cater for increased circulating volume
Cardiogenic Shock and Late Pregnancy: Two patients; High mortality; Planned delivery; Diagnose and treat cause
Cocaine Toxicity and Obstetrics:
Eclampsia: life threatening situation for the mother and baby. 1:2000 pregnancies; most occur in 3rd trimester; 1/3 post-partum; usually with in 24hrs of delivery; vasogenic cerebral oedema from hypertensive encephalopathy
Ectopic pregnancy = fertilized ovum which implants outside the lining of the uterus
Hemorrhage and Pregnancy: gravid uterus receives 15% of Q -> bleeding can be rapid; principle causes; abruption, placenta praevia, PPH; baby more at risk than mum
HELLP Syndrome: haemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, and a low platelet count. There is clear overlap between pre-eclampsia and HELLP syndrome, and it is unclear whether the latter is a primary or secondary disease process.
Influenza and Pregnancy: known high incidence of morbidity and mortality in mother and foetus in H1N1 infection and severe community acquired pneumonia; multidisciplinary team approach: O&G, NICU, anaesthetics, ICU; planned delivery of foetus (although the teams may have conflicting interests)