Evaluation of the microcirculation in critically ill patients
Issue title: Selected Presentations held at the 34th Conference of the German Society for Clinical Microcirculation and Hemorheology, Regensburg, Germany, 27–28 November, 2015
Affiliations:
University Hospital Duesseldorf, Heinrich-Heine-University Duesseldorf, Medical Faculty, Division of Cardiology, Pulmonology and Vascular Medicine, Moorenstrasse 5, D-40225 Duesseldorf, Germany
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Christian Jung, M.D., PhD, University Hospital Düsseldorf, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Medical Faculty, Division of Cardiology, Pulmonology and Vascular Medicine, Moorenstrasse 5, D-40225 Düsseldorf, Germany. Tel.: +49 211 81 18567; Fax: +49 211 81 18812; E-mail: christian.jung@med.uni-duesseldorf.de
Abstract: Adequate monitoring of patients on intensive care units is of highest priority to provide optimal treatment and to detect patients at risk. Within recent years the microcirculation became more and more attention due to its central importance for the outcome of patients. Microcirculatory disorders may include capillary flow disturbances as well as changes in the density of perfused vessels. In the clinical setting, the most often used parameter to detect alterations in the microcirculation is serum lactate. Since this parameter is characterized by major limitations, other strategies including non-invasive methods to quantify microvascular perfusion have been developed. A successful surveillance of the microcirculation in the individual patient may guide diagnostic and treatment strategies in order to optimize organ perfusion and oxygenation, subsequently leading to an individualized therapy. Intravital microscopy has been used to stratify patients at risk and to predict patients’ outcome. The aim of this review is to evaluate clinical correlates of microcirculatory disorders as well as giving an overview of newer diagnostic devices that may directly or indirectly evaluate the microcirculation and are available for use in critically ill patients.
Keywords: Microcirculation, critically ill, intensive care, intravital microscopy
