Advances in Critical Care Testing

List of Contents.- Winner of the 1996 IFCC-AVL Award.- Biochemical Diagnosis of Acute Aortic Damage - Diagnosis of Aortic Dissection and Traumatic Aortic-Rupture Using an Immunoassay 'of Smooth Muscle Myosin Heavy Chain.- Inflammation - Infection - Stress.- Finalists.- Leucocyte Motion During Gravity Sedimentation of Whole Blood.- Is Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia the Result of Exposure to Host-Derived Inflammatoy Mediators?.- Glucose Metabolism Modifies Experimental Endotoxin Shock.- Neutrophil Elastase, C-Reactive Protein and Platelet Count After Severe Multiple Trauma Indicate the Risk for Late Multiple Organ Failure Following Secondary Operations.- National Winners.- Monitoring of Serum Cytokeratin 18 in Patients with Burns..- Intermittent Bolus Dosing of Ceftazidime in Critically III Patients.- Biochemical Prognostic Markers in Critically Ill Patients.- Other Abstracts.- Decreased L-Selectin Expression on Polymorphonuclear Leucocytes Following Dexamethasone Treatment: Another Possible Anti-Inflammatory Mechanism.- Thrombocytopaenia Associated with the Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome: Involvement of the Haemophagocytosis Process.- Use of Cortisol, Glucagon and Nitrogen Balance Measurements to Assess Stress Levels in Critically III Patients.- Prognostic Implications from Measurement of Cytokines in Bronchoalveolar Lavage in Critically Ill Patients with Pneumonia.- Hypoxia - Ischaemia.- National Winner.- Changes in Serum and Cerebrospinal Fluid Superoxide Dismutase and Neurone-Specific Enolase Following Acute Cerebral Ischaemia.- Other Abstracts.- Human Polymorphonuclear Leucocyte Metabolism and Lipoperoxidation During Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome.- Cardiology - Haemodynamics.- Finalist.- Left Ventricular Assist Device Powered by a Balloon Counterpulsation Console.- National Winner.- Alterations in Serum Haptoglobin Concentration During the Early Phase of Myocardial Infarction.- Other Abstracts.- Association of Interleukin-2 Receptor with Acute Myocardial Infarction.- Changes in Expression of Interleukin-2 Receptor and Interleukin-2 Production on Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells in Cardiac Surgery Patients.- Interrelationship Between Serum and Cerebrospinal Fluid Enzymes in Comatose Patients.- Role of Transoesophageal Echocardiography in Patients with Severe Blunt Chest Trauma for the Diagnosis and Management of Traumatic Disruption of the Aorta.- Haemodynamic Effects of Different Modes of Positive-Pressure Mechanical Ventilation.- Coronary Reserve and Myocardial Metabolism in Patients with Angina and Normal Coronary Arteriogram.- Early Detection of Successful Coronary Reperfusion Based on Serum Levels of Human Heart-Type Cytoplasmic Fatty Acid-Binding Protein.- Cardiac Troponin I as a Marker for Perioperative Myocardial Ischaemia in Non-cardiac Surgery Patients.- Endogenous Nitric Oxide and the Low Systemic Vascular Resistance Syndrome Following Cardiac Surgery.- Blood Gases - Electrolytes - Trace Elements.- Finalists.- Towards Clinically Useful Expert Systems in Critical Care: Locally Managed Interpretation of Arterial Blood Gas Data.- Computer-Assisted Evaluation of Oxygen and Acid-Base Status of the Blood.- National Winners.- Pattern of Ionised Versus Total Magnesium Concentration in Peri-Operative Cardiac Surgery Patients: Influence of Preoperative Diuretic Therapy.- Role of Blood Gas Measurement in the Management of Acute Asthma.- Relevance of End-Tidal Carbon Dioxide Monitoring in Ventilated Neonates.- Other Abstracts.- Trace Element Deficiency in Critically Ill Patients.- Electrolyte and Acid-Base Balance in Respiratory and Metabolic Acidosis.- Point-of-Care Testing of Haemoglobin Derivatives by Co-Oximetry with Simultaneous Blood Gas Measurements.- Changes in Body Water Compartments in Children with Meningitis.- Surfactant as a Marker of Disease Severity in Critically Ill Patients with Respiratory Failure.- Reliability of the Pulse Oximeter.- Nephrology.- Other Abstracts.- Evidence of Oxidant I