Are plasma levels of macrophage migration inhibitory factor elevated in patients with severe sepsis?
MIF serves as a general marker for systemic inflammation in septic and nonseptic acute critical illness, but MIF does not discriminate for severity or differentiate between infectious and noninfectious origins of an acute critical illness.
Clinically silent brain injuries identified preoperatively in neonates with congenital heart disease, including stroke, have a low risk of progression with surgery and cardiopulmonary bypass and should therefore not delay clinically indicated cardiac surgery. In this multicenter cohort, balloon atrial septostomy remains an important risk factor for preoperative brain injury, particularly stroke.