Erratum to: 36th International Symposium on Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1186/s13054-016-1208-6.]

Alimentation orale lors de maladie : un défi thérapeuthique

Lors de processus morbide, une alimentation orale optimalisée est primordiale pour éviter la survenue d'une malnutrition et de ses complications. De nombreux facteurs lies à la fois au patient, à sa maladie et au mileu hospitalier rendent difficile l'alimentation orale. Néanmoins, tous les efforts doivent être mis en œuvre agin d'encourager, maintenir ou rétablir l'alimentation orale chaque fois que cela est possible, c'est-à-dire pour tous les patients conscients, sans risque de broncho-aspiration d'aliments, capables d'ingérer et de digérer des aliments. Les différents mécanismes conduisant à la prise alimentaire sont discutés.During critical illness, optimal oral food intake is essential to prevent the occurrence of malnutrition and.ifs complications. Numerous factors related to the patient, his illness and the hospital environment can be responsible for the lack of adequate food intake. Nevertheless no effort should be left undone to encourage, maintain or re-establish oral food intake whenever possible ; that is for ail patients who are conscious, are not of risk for broncho-aspiration of food, and are capable to ingest and digest food. Various aspects of food intake are discussed

Low fat-free mass as a marker of mortality in community-dwelling healthy elderly subjects

Background: low fat-free mass has been related to high mortality in patients. This study evaluated the relationship between body composition of healthy elderly subjects and mortality. Methods: in 1999, 203 older subjects underwent measurements of body composition by bioelectrical impedance analysis, Charlson co-morbidity index and estimation of energy expenditure through physical activity by a validated questionnaire. These measurements were repeated in 2002, 2005 and 2008 in all consenting subjects. Mortality data between 1999 and 2010 were retrieved from the local death registers. The relationship between mortality and the last indexes of fat and fat-free masses was analysed by multiple Cox regression models. Results: women's and men's data at last follow-up were: age 81.1 ± 5.9 and 80.9 ± 5.8 years, body mass index 25.3 ± 4.6 and 26.1 ± 3.4 kg/m2, fat-free mass index 16.4 ± 1.8 and 19.3 ± 1.9 kg/m2 and fat mass index 9.0 ± 3.2 and 6.8 ± 2.0 kg/m2. Fifty-eight subjects died between 1999 and 2010. The fat-free mass index (hazard ratio 0.77; 95% confidence interval 0.63–0.95) but not the fat mass index, predicted mortality in addition to sex and Charlson index. The multiple Cox regression model explained 31% of the variance of mortality. Conclusion: a low fat-free mass index is an independent risk factor of mortality in elderly subjects, healthy at the time of body composition measurement