Background
The collapsibility index of the inferior vena cava (cIVC) has potential for predicting fluid responsiveness in spontaneously breathing patients, but a standardized approach for measuring ...the inferior vena cava diameter has yet to be established.
The aim was to test the accuracy of different measurement sites of inferior vena cava diameter to predict fluid responsiveness in spontaneously breathing patients with sepsis-related circulatory failure and examine the influence of a standardized breathing manoeuvre.
Results
Among the 81 patients included in the study, the median Simplified Acute Physiologic Score II was 34 (24; 42). Sepsis was of pulmonary origin in 49 patients (60%). Median volume expansion during the 24 h prior to study inclusion was 1000 mL (0; 2000). Patients were not severely ill: none were intubated, only 20% were on vasopressors, and all were apparently able to perform a standardized breathing exercise. Forty-one (51%) patients were responders to volume expansion (i.e.
a
≥ 10% stroke volume index increase). The cIVC was calculated during non-standardized (cIVC-ns) and standardized breathing (cIVC-st) conditions. The accuracy with which both cIVC-ns and cIVC-st predicted fluid responsiveness differed significantly by measurement site (interaction
p
< 0.001 and < 0.0001, respectively). Measuring inferior vena cava diameters 4 cm caudal to the right atrium predicted fluid responsiveness with the best accuracy. At this site, a standardized breathing manoeuvre also significantly improved predictive power: areas under ROC curves mean and (95% CI) for cIVC-ns = 0.85 0.78–0.94 versus cIVC-st = 0.98 0.97–1.0,
p
< 0.001. When cIVC-ns is superior or equal to 33%, fluid responsiveness is predicted with a sensitivity of 66% and a specificity of 92%. When cIVC-st is superior or equal to 44%, fluid responsiveness is predicted with a sensitivity of 93% and a specificity of 98%.
Conclusion
The accuracy with which cIVC measurements predict fluid responsiveness in spontaneously breathing patients depends on both the measurement site of inferior vena cava diameters and the breathing regime. Measuring inferior vena cava diameters during a standardized inhalation manoeuvre at 4 cm caudal to the right atrium seems to be the method by which to obtain cIVC measurements best-able to predict patients’ response to volume expansion.
Hemorrhagic events remain a major concern in patients under extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) support. We tested the association between anticoagulation levels and hemorrhagic events under ...ECMO using anti-Xa activity monitoring.
We performed a retrospective multicenter cohort study in three ECMO centers. All adult patients treated with veno-venous (VV)- or veno-arterial (VA)-ECMO in 6 intensive care units between September 2017 and August 2019 were included. Anti-Xa activities were collected until a hemorrhagic event in the bleeding group and for the duration of ECMO in the non-bleeding group. All dosages were averaged to obtain means of anti-Xa activity for each patient, and patients were compared according to the occurrence or not of bleeding.
Among 367 patients assessed for eligibility, 121 were included. Thirty-five (29%) presented a hemorrhagic complication. In univariate analysis, anti-Xa activities were significantly higher in the bleeding group than in the non-bleeding group, both for the mean anti-Xa activity (0.38 0.29-0.67 vs 0.33 0.22-0.42 IU/mL; p = 0.01) and the maximal anti-Xa activity (0.83 0.47-1.46 vs 0.66 0.36-0.91 IU/mL; p = 0.05). In the Cox proportional hazard model, mean anti-Xa activity was associated with bleeding (p = 0.0001). By Kaplan-Meier analysis with the cutoff value at 0.46 IU/mL obtained by ROC curve analysis, the probability of survival under ECMO without bleeding was significantly lower when mean anti-Xa was > 0.46 IU/mL (p = 0.0006).
In critically ill patients under ECMO, mean anti-Xa activity was an independent risk factor for hemorrhagic complications. Anticoagulation targets could be revised downward in both VV- and VA-ECMO.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) can cause life-threatening acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Recent data suggest a role for neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) in COVID-19-related ...lung damage partly due to microthrombus formation. Besides, pulmonary embolism (PE) is frequent in severe COVID-19 patients, suggesting that immunothrombosis could also be responsible for increased PE occurrence in these patients. Here, we evaluate whether plasma levels of NET markers measured shorty after admission of hospitalized COVID-19 patients are associated with clinical outcomes in terms of clinical worsening, survival, and PE occurrence.
Ninety-six hospitalized COVID-19 patients were included, 50 with ARDS (severe disease) and 46 with moderate disease. We collected plasma early after admission and measured 3 NET markers: total DNA, myeloperoxidase (MPO)-DNA complexes, and citrullinated histone H3. Comparisons between survivors and non-survivors and patients developing PE and those not developing PE were assessed by Mann-Whitney test.
Analysis in the whole population of hospitalized COVID-19 patients revealed increased circulating biomarkers of NETs in patients who will die from COVID-19 and in patients who will subsequently develop PE. Restriction of our analysis in the most severe patients, i.e., the ones who enter the hospital for COVID-19-related ARDS, confirmed the link between NET biomarker levels and survival but not PE occurrence.
Our results strongly reinforce the hypothesis that NETosis is an attractive therapeutic target to prevent COVID-19 progression but that it does not seem to be linked to PE occurrence in patients hospitalized with COVID-19.
Advanced age or preexisting comorbidities have been characterized as risk factors for severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases requiring hospitalization and intensive care. In recent years, ...clonal hematopoiesis (CH) of indeterminate potential (CHIP) has emerged as a risk factor for chronic inflammatory background and subsequent aging-associated diseases. The purpose of this study was to identify biological factors (particularly leukocyte subtypes and inflammatory markers) associated with a risk of clinical deterioration (i.e., orotracheal intubation (OTI)) and to determine whether CH was likely to influence clinical and biological behavior in patients with severe COVID-19 requiring hospitalization. Here, we describe clinical and biological features, including the screening of CHIP mutants in a well-annotated cohort of 122 hospitalized patients with a laboratory-confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 (55% requiring OTI). We showed that elevated white blood cell counts, especially neutrophils and high C-reactive protein (CRP) levels at admission, were associated with an increased requirement of OTI. We noticed a high prevalence of CH (25%, 38%, 56%, and 82% of patients aged <60 years, 60–70 years, 70–80 years, and >80 years) compared to a retrospective cohort of patients free of hematological malignancy explored with the same pipelines (10%, 21%, 37%, and 44%). However, the existence of CH did not significantly impact clinical outcome, including OTI or death, and did not correlate with other laboratory findings.
Benjamini-Hochberg false discovery rate correction Of the miRNAs found of interest to discriminate between severe and non-severe COVID-19 in our study, some were reported to be implicated in viral ...and other infections: miR-455-5p was up-regulated in rabies virus infection in vitro, decreased suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 (SOCS3) expression and increased signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) activity, resulting in enhanced viral replication and the production of IL-6.6 Furthermore, this miRNA targeted the C-C motif chemokine receptor 5 (CCR5).7 Of interest, CCR5 is involved in severe COVID-19 and has been proposed as anti-inflammatory treatment target.8 Taken together, this underlines the role of hsa-miR-455-5p in viral infections and the inflammatory response and its potential as target of therapeutic interventions. hsa-miR-532-3p diminished the levels of ASK1 and downstream phosphorylation/translocation of p38 MAPK during lipopolysaccharide (LPS)/ tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α)-induced inflammation in macrophages and reduced the release of various pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, including IL-6 and TNF-alpha.9 IL-6 is a proinflammatory cytokine that has been reported to be involved in the cytokine storm observed in severe COVID-19.10 The down-regulation of anti-inflammatory miRNAs, such as hsa-miR-532-3p, hsa-miR-340-5p and hsa-miR-455-5p, in severe COVID-19 (Table 1) is in line with a hyperinflammatory state in severe COVID-19. Recently, direct and indirect miRNA interactions with other miRNAs have been described (reviewed11). ...it cannot be excluded that the miRNAs identified in this study directly or indirectly influence expression of other miRNAs and thus have a broad impact on miRNA and gene expression. ...our analysis of miRNA expression in nasopharyngeal swabs revealed a general reduction of miRNA expression in severe COVID-19 patients.
Objective. Our primary aim was to assess selected metabolic dysfunction parameters, both independently and as a complement to the SOFA score, as predictors of short-term mortality in patients with ...infection admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). Methods. We retrospectively enrolled all consecutive adult patients admitted to the eight ICUs of Lille University Hospital, between January 2015 and September 2016, with suspected or confirmed infection. We selected seven routinely measured biological and clinical parameters of metabolic dysfunction (maximal arterial lactatemia, minimal and maximal temperature, minimal and maximal glycaemia, cholesterolemia, and triglyceridemia), in addition to age and the Charlson’s comorbidity score. All parameters and SOFA scores were recorded within 24 h of admission. Results. We included 956 patients with infection, among which 295 (30.9%) died within 90 days. Among the seven metabolic parameters investigated, only maximal lactatemia was associated with higher risk of 90-day hospital mortality in SOFA-adjusted analyses (SOFA-adjusted OR, 1.17; 95%CI, 1.10 to 1.25; p<0.001). Age and the Charlson’s comorbidity score were also statistically associated with a poor prognosis in SOFA-adjusted analyses. We were thus able to develop a metabolic failure, age, and comorbidity assessment (MACA) score based on scales of lactatemia, age, and the Charlson’s score, intended for use in combination with the SOFA score. Conclusions. The maximal lactatemia level within 24 h of ICU admission is the best predictor of short-term mortality among seven measures of metabolic dysfunction. Our combined “SOFA + MACA” score could facilitate early detection of patients likely to develop severe infections. Its accuracy requires further evaluation.
The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused an ongoing pandemic. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is the gold standard for the detection of ...SARS-CoV-2 and has been applied to different specimen types. Understanding the virus load and virus detection frequency in different specimen types is important to improve diagnosis and estimate the duration of potential infectivity. We conducted a retrospective single-center cohort study on hospitalized and outpatients with SARS-CoV-2 infection. We analyzed the frequency of virus detection, virus load, and duration of the virus excretion in upper and lower respiratory specimens as well as stool and plasma. We found that the frequency of SARS-CoV-2 detection, the virus load, and duration of virus excretion was higher in lower respiratory tract (LRT) than in upper respiratory tract (URT) specimens. The duration of virus excretion was longer in patients requiring intensive care unit (ICU) admission. In conclusion, LRT specimens are the most appropriate specimen type for the detection and follow-up of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Duration of virus excretion is longer in severe cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Objective
The COVID‐19 pandemic is rapidly spreading worldwide, notably in Europe and North America where obesity is highly prevalent. The relation between obesity and severe acute respiratory ...syndrome coronavirus‐2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) has not been fully documented.
Methods
This retrospective cohort study analyzed the relationship between clinical characteristics, including BMI, and the requirement for invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) in 124 consecutive patients admitted in intensive care for SARS‐CoV‐2 in a single French center.
Results
Obesity (BMI > 30) and severe obesity (BMI > 35) were present in 47.6% and 28.2% of cases, respectively. Overall, 85 patients (68.6%) required IMV. The proportion of patients who required IMV increased with BMI categories (P < 0.01, χ2 test for trend), and it was greatest in patients with BMI > 35 (85.7%). In multivariate logistic regression, the need for IMV was significantly associated with male sex (P < 0.05) and BMI (P < 0.05), independent of age, diabetes, and hypertension. The odds ratio for IMV in patients with BMI > 35 versus patients with BMI < 25 was 7.36 (1.63‐33.14; P = 0.02).
Conclusions
The present study showed a high frequency of obesity among patients admitted in intensive care for SARS‐CoV‐2. Disease severity increased with BMI. Obesity is a risk factor for SARS‐CoV‐2 severity, requiring increased attention to preventive measures in susceptible individuals.
PDF
