Objective
To update the 2008 consensus statements for the diagnosis and management of critical illness-related corticosteroid insufficiency (CIRCI) in adult and pediatric patients.
Participants
A ...multispecialty task force of 16 international experts in Critical Care Medicine, endocrinology, and guideline methods, all of them members of the Society of Critical Care Medicine and/or the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine.
Design/methods
The recommendations were based on the summarized evidence from the 2008 document in addition to more recent findings from an updated systematic review of relevant studies from 2008 to 2017 and were formulated using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) methodology. The strength of each recommendation was classified as strong or conditional, and the quality of evidence was rated from high to very low based on factors including the individual study design, the risk of bias, the consistency of the results, and the directness and precision of the evidence. Recommendation approval required the agreement of at least 80% of the task force members.
Results
The task force was unable to reach agreement on a single test that can reliably diagnose CIRCI, although delta cortisol (change in baseline cortisol at 60 min of <9 µg/dl) after cosyntropin (250 µg) administration and a random plasma cortisol of <10 µg/dl may be used by clinicians. We suggest against using plasma free cortisol or salivary cortisol level over plasma total cortisol (conditional, very low quality of evidence). For treatment of specific conditions, we suggest using intravenous (IV) hydrocortisone <400 mg/day for ≥3 days at full dose in patients with septic shock that is not responsive to fluid and moderate- to high-dose vasopressor therapy (conditional, low quality of evidence). We suggest not using corticosteroids in adult patients with sepsis without shock (conditional recommendation, moderate quality of evidence). We suggest the use of IV methylprednisolone 1 mg/kg/day in patients with early moderate to severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (PaO
2
/FiO
2
< 200 and within 14 days of onset) (conditional, moderate quality of evidence). Corticosteroids are not suggested for patients with major trauma (conditional, low quality of evidence).
Conclusions
Evidence-based recommendations for the use of corticosteroids in critically ill patients with sepsis and septic shock, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and major trauma have been developed by a multispecialty task force.
Objective
To provide a narrative review of the latest concepts and understanding of the pathophysiology of critical illness-related corticosteroid insufficiency (CIRCI).
Participants
A multispecialty ...task force of international experts in critical care medicine and endocrinology and members of the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) and the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM).
Data sources
Medline, Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE), Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.
Results
Three major pathophysiologic events were considered to constitute CIRCI: dysregulation of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis, altered cortisol metabolism, and tissue resistance to glucocorticoids. The dysregulation of the HPA axis is complex, involving multidirectional crosstalk between the CRH/ACTH pathways, autonomic nervous system, vasopressinergic system, and immune system. Recent studies have demonstrated that plasma clearance of cortisol is markedly reduced during critical illness, explained by suppressed expression and activity of the primary cortisol-metabolizing enzymes in the liver and kidney. Despite the elevated cortisol levels during critical illness, tissue resistance to glucocorticoids is believed to occur due to insufficient glucocorticoid alpha-mediated anti-inflammatory activity.
Conclusions
Novel insights into the pathophysiology of CIRCI add to the limitations of the current diagnostic tools to identify at-risk patients and may also impact how corticosteroids are used in patients with CIRCI.
This study assessed the ability of mid-regional proadrenomedullin (MR-proADM) in comparison to conventional biomarkers (procalcitonin (PCT), lactate, C-reactive protein) and clinical scores to ...identify disease severity in patients with sepsis.
This is a secondary analysis of a randomised controlled trial in patients with severe sepsis or septic shock across 33 German intensive care units. The association between biomarkers and clinical scores with mortality was assessed by Cox regression analysis, area under the receiver operating characteristic and Kaplan-Meier curves. Patients were stratified into three severity groups (low, intermediate, high) for all biomarkers and scores based on cutoffs with either a 90% sensitivity or specificity.
1089 patients with a 28-day mortality rate of 26.9% were analysed. According to the Sepsis-3 definition, 41.2% and 58.8% fulfilled the criteria for sepsis and septic shock, with respective mortality rates of 20.0% and 32.1%. MR-proADM had the strongest association with mortality across all Sepsis-1 and Sepsis-3 subgroups and could facilitate a more accurate classification of low (e.g. MR-proADM vs. SOFA: N = 265 vs. 232; 9.8% vs. 13.8% mortality) and high (e.g. MR-proADM vs. SOFA: N = 161 vs. 155; 55.9% vs. 41.3% mortality) disease severity. Patients with decreasing PCT concentrations of either ≥ 20% (baseline to day 1) or ≥ 50% (baseline to day 4) but continuously high MR-proADM concentrations had a significantly increased mortality risk (HR (95% CI): 19.1 (8.0-45.9) and 43.1 (10.1-184.0)).
MR-proADM identifies disease severity and treatment response more accurately than established biomarkers and scores, adding additional information to facilitate rapid clinical decision-making and improve personalised sepsis treatment.
To develop consensus statements for the diagnosis and management of corticosteroid insufficiency in critically ill adult patients.
A multidisciplinary, multispecialty task force of experts in ...critical care medicine was convened from the membership of the Society of Critical Care Medicine and the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine. In addition, international experts in endocrinology were invited to participate.
The task force members reviewed published literature and provided expert opinion from which the consensus was derived. The consensus statements were developed using a modified Delphi methodology. The strength of each recommendation was quantified using the Modified GRADE system, which classifies recommendations as strong (grade 1) or weak (grade 2) and the quality of evidence as high (grade A), moderate (grade B), or low (grade C) based on factors that include the study design, the consistency of the results, and the directness of the evidence.
The task force coined the term critical illness-related corticosteroid insufficiency to describe the dysfunction of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis that occurs during critical illness. Critical illness-related corticosteroid insufficiency is caused by adrenal insufficiency together with tissue corticosteroid resistance and is characterized by an exaggerated and protracted proinflammatory response. Critical illness-related corticosteroid insufficiency should be suspected in hypotensive patients who have responded poorly to fluids and vasopressor agents, particularly in the setting of sepsis. At this time, the diagnosis of tissue corticosteroid resistance remains problematic. Adrenal insufficiency in critically ill patients is best made by a delta total serum cortisol of < 9 microg/dL after adrenocorticotrophic hormone (250 microg) administration or a random total cortisol of < 10 microg/dL. The benefit of treatment with glucocorticoids at this time seems to be limited to patients with vasopressor-dependent septic shock and patients with early severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (PaO2/FiO2 of < 200 and within 14 days of onset). The adrenocorticotrophic hormone stimulation test should not be used to identify those patients with septic shock or acute respiratory distress syndrome who should receive glucocorticoids. Hydrocortisone in a dose of 200 mg/day in four divided doses or as a continuous infusion in a dose of 240 mg/day (10 mg/hr) for > or = 7 days is recommended for septic shock. Methylprednisolone in a dose of 1 mg x kg(-1) x day(-1) for > or = 14 days is recommended in patients with severe early acute respiratory distress syndrome. Glucocorticoids should be weaned and not stopped abruptly. Reinstitution of treatment should be considered with recurrence of signs of sepsis, hypotension, or worsening oxygenation. Dexamethasone is not recommended to treat critical illness-related corticosteroid insufficiency. The role of glucocorticoids in the management of patients with community-acquired pneumonia, liver failure, pancreatitis, those undergoing cardiac surgery, and other groups of critically ill patients requires further investigation.
Evidence-linked consensus statements with regard to the diagnosis and management of corticosteroid deficiency in critically ill patients have been developed by a multidisciplinary, multispecialty task force.
In emergency medicine, blood pressure is often measured by an oscillometric device using an upper arm cuff. However, measurement accuracy of this technique in patients suffering from hypotensive ...shock has not been sufficiently evaluated. We designed a prospective observational study investigating the accuracy of an oscillometric device in hypotensive patients admitted to the resuscitation area of the emergency department. Patients admitted to the resuscitation area of a university hospital, who were equipped with an arterial catheter and found to be hypotensive (mean arterial pressure (MAP) < 60 mmHg) were eligible for the study. Blood pressure was measured simultaneously via upper arm cuff and invasively under routine clinical conditions. After data extraction, Bland–Altman analysis, correlation coefficient and percentage error of mean and systolic blood pressure pairs were performed. We analysed 75 simultaneously obtained blood pressure measurements of 30 patients in hypotension, 11 (37%) were female, median age was 76.5 years (IQR 63–82). Oscillometric MAP was markedly higher than invasive MAP with a mean of the differences of 13 ± 15 mmHg (oscillometric—invasive), 95% limits of agreement − 16 to 41 mmHg, percentage error was 76%. In 64% of readings, values obtained by the upper arm cuff were not able to detect hypotension. Oscillometric blood pressure measurement is not able to reliably detect hypotension in emergency patients. Therefore, direct measurement of blood pressure should be established as soon as possible in patients suffering from shock.
Severe COVID-19 is characterized by profound CD8
+
T-cell dysfunction, which cannot be specifically treated to date. We here investigate whether metabolic CD8
+
T-cell reprogramming by ketone bodies ...could be a promising strategy to overcome the immunoparalysis in COVID-19 patients. This approach was triggered by our recent pioneering study, which has provided evidence that CD8
+
T-cell capacity in healthy subjects could be significantly empowered by a Ketogenic Diet. These improvements were achieved by immunometabolic rewiring toward oxidative phosphorylation. We here report similar strengthening of CD8
+
T cells obtained from severely diseased COVID-19 patients: Flow cytometry and ELISA revealed elevated cytokine expression and secretion (up to + 24%) upon ketone treatment and enhanced cell lysis capacity (+ 21%). Metabolic analyses using Seahorse technology revealed upregulated mitochondrial respiratory chain activity (+ 25%), enabling both superior energy supply (+ 44%) and higher mitochondrial reactive oxygen species signaling. These beneficial effects of ketones might represent evolutionary conserved mechanisms to strengthen human immunity. Our findings pave the road for metabolic treatment studies in COVID-19.
Abstract Objective To assess the effects of corticosteroids on mortality in patients with severe sepsis and septic shock. Data sources Randomised and quasi-randomised trials of corticosteroids versus ...placebo (or supportive treatment alone) retrieved from the Cochrane infectious diseases group's trials register, the Cochrane central register of controlled trials, Medline, Embase, and LILACS. Review method Two pairs of reviewers agreed on eligibility of trials. One reviewer entered data on to the computer and four reviewers checked them. We obtained some missing data from authors of trials and assessed methodological quality of trials. Results 16/23 trials (n = 2063) were selected. Corticosteroids did not change 28 day mortality (15 trials, n = 2022; relative risk 0.92, 95% confidence interval 0.75 to 1.14) or hospital mortality (13 trials, n = 1418; 0.89, 0.71 to 1.11). There was significant heterogeneity. Subgroup analysis on long courses (≥ 5 days) with low dose (≤ 300 mg hydrocortisone or equivalent) corticosteroids showed no more heterogeneity. The relative risk for mortality was 0.80 at 28 days (five trials, n = 465; 0.67 to 0.95) and 0.83 at hospital discharge (five trials, n = 465, 0.71 to 0.97). Use of corticosteroids reduced mortality in intensive care units (four trials, n = 425, 0.83, 0.70 to 0.97), increased shock reversal at 7 days (four trials, n = 425; 1.60, 1.27 to 2.03) and 28 days (four trials, n = 425, 1.26, 1.04 to 1.52) without inducing side effects. Conclusions For all trials, regardless of duration of treatment and dose, use of corticosteroids did not significantly affect mortality. With long courses of low doses of corticosteroids, however, mortality at 28 days and hospital morality was reduced.
Background
Hemadsorption of cytokines is used in critically ill patients with sepsis or septic shock. Concerns have been raised that the cytokine adsorber CytoSorb
®
unintentionally adsorbs ...vancomycin. This study aimed to quantify vancomycin elimination by CytoSorb
®
.
Methods
Critically ill patients with sepsis or septic shock receiving continuous renal replacement therapy and CytoSorb
®
treatment during a prospective observational study were included in the analysis. Vancomycin pharmacokinetics was characterized using population pharmacokinetic modeling. Adsorption of vancomycin by the CytoSorb
®
was investigated as linear or saturable process. The final model was used to derive dosing recommendations based on stochastic simulations.
Results
20 CytoSorb
®
treatments in 7 patients (160 serum samples/24 during CytoSorb
®
-treatment, all continuous infusion) were included in the study. A classical one-compartment model, including effluent flow rate of the continuous hemodialysis as linear covariate on clearance, best described the measured concentrations (without CytoSorb
®
). Significant adsorption with a linear decrease during CytoSorb
®
treatment was identified (p < 0.0001) and revealed a maximum increase in vancomycin clearance of 291% (initially after CytoSorb
®
installation) and a maximum adsorption capacity of 572 mg. For a representative patient of our cohort a reduction of the area under the curve (AUC) by 93 mg/L*24 h during CytoSorb
®
treatment was observed. The additional administration of 500 mg vancomycin over 2 h during CytoSorb
®
attenuated the effect and revealed a negligible reduction of the AUC by 4 mg/L*24 h.
Conclusion
We recommend the infusion of 500 mg vancomycin over 2 h during CytoSorb
®
treatment to avoid subtherapeutic concentrations.
Trial registration
NCT03985605. Registered 14 June 2019,
https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03985605
Abstract
Rationale
Steroid profiles in combination with a corticotropin stimulation test provide information about steroidogenesis and its functional reserves in critically ill patients.
Objectives
...We investigated whether steroid profiles before and after corticotropin stimulation can predict the risk of in-hospital death in sepsis.
Methods
An exploratory data analysis of a double blind, randomized trial in sepsis (HYPRESS HYdrocortisone for PRevention of Septic Shock) was performed. The trial included adult patients with sepsis who were not in shock and were randomly assigned to placebo or hydrocortisone treatment. Corticotropin tests were performed in patients prior to randomization and in healthy subjects. Cortisol and precursors of glucocorticoids (17-OH-progesterone, 11-desoxycortisol) and mineralocorticoids (11-desoxycorticosterone, corticosterone) were analyzed using the multi-analyte stable isotope dilution method (LC–MS/MS). Measurement results from healthy subjects were used to determine reference ranges, and those from placebo patients to predict in-hospital mortality.
Measurements and main results
Corticotropin tests from 180 patients and 20 volunteers were included. Compared to healthy subjects, patients with sepsis had elevated levels of 11-desoxycorticosterone and 11-desoxycortisol, consistent with activation of both glucocorticoid and mineralocorticoid pathways. After stimulation with corticotropin, the cortisol response was subnormal in 12% and the corticosterone response in 50% of sepsis patients. In placebo patients (
n
= 90), a corticotropin-stimulated cortisol-to-corticosterone ratio > 32.2 predicted in-hospital mortality (AUC 0.8 CI 0.70–0.88; sensitivity 83%; and specificity 78%). This ratio also predicted risk of shock development and 90-day mortality.
Conclusions
In this exploratory analysis, we found that in sepsis mineralocorticoid steroidogenesis was more frequently impaired than glucocorticoid steroidogenesis. The corticotropin-stimulated cortisol-to-corticosterone ratio predicts the risk of in-hospital death.
Trial registration
Clinical trial registered with
www.clinicaltrials.gov
Identifier: NCT00670254. Registered 1 May 2008,
https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00670254
.
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