Critical Care Volume 11 Issue 5

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Will albumin provide any benefit in a severely ill group?

Shahed Omar   (08 October 2007)  Bara ICU Wits University

I think that the median Apache score of the study population was about 15. In a population with a greater severity of illness we might expect the level of inflammation and therefore endothelial dysfunction to be greater. It is possible that if that were the case the albumin may leak out of the vascular compartment and not provide the same increase in oncotic pressure. The benefits of such a therapy may then be lost. However the concept of increasing oncotic pressure and simultaneous diuresis for ALI/ARDS is certainly appealing.

Competing interests

None declared

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