•Some regions of the world have higher infection rates from SARS-CoV-2 and with a higher mortality.•These regions have high concentration of air pollutants, especially PM 2.5 and NO2.•Chronic ...exposure, especially to PM 2.5, correlates with alveolar ACE-2 receptor overexpression leading to more severe COVID-19 infection.•High ambient NO2 may be responsible for the extensive lung injury in COVID-19 pneumonia associated with a worse outcome.
In areas of SARS-CoV-2 outbreak worldwide mean air pollutants concentrations vastly exceed the maximum limits. Chronic exposure to air pollutants have been associated with lung ACE-2 over-expression which is known to be the main receptor for SARS-CoV-2. The aim of this study was to analyse the relationship between air pollutants concentration (PM 2.5 and NO2) and COVID-19 outbreak, in terms of transmission, number of patients, severity of presentation and number of deaths.
COVID-19 cases, ICU admissions and mortality rate were correlated with severity of air pollution in the Italian regions.
The highest number of COVID-19 cases were recorded in the most polluted regions with patients presenting with more severe forms of the disease requiring ICU admission. In these regions, mortality was two-fold higher than the other regions.
From the data available we propose a “double-hit hypothesis”: chronic exposure to PM 2.5 causes alveolar ACE-2 receptor overexpression. This may increase viral load in patients exposed to pollutants in turn depleting ACE-2 receptors and impairing host defences. High atmospheric NO2 may provide a second hit causing a severe form of SARS-CoV-2 in ACE-2 depleted lungs resulting in a worse outcome.
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Tranexamic acid reduces the risk of bleeding among patients undergoing cardiac surgery, but it is unclear whether this leads to improved outcomes. Furthermore, there are concerns that tranexamic acid ...may have prothrombotic and proconvulsant effects.
In a trial with a 2-by-2 factorial design, we randomly assigned patients who were scheduled to undergo coronary-artery surgery and were at risk for perioperative complications to receive aspirin or placebo and tranexamic acid or placebo. The results of the tranexamic acid comparison are reported here. The primary outcome was a composite of death and thrombotic complications (nonfatal myocardial infarction, stroke, pulmonary embolism, renal failure, or bowel infarction) within 30 days after surgery.
Of the 4662 patients who were enrolled and provided consent, 4631 underwent surgery and had available outcomes data; 2311 were assigned to the tranexamic acid group and 2320 to the placebo group. A primary outcome event occurred in 386 patients (16.7%) in the tranexamic acid group and in 420 patients (18.1%) in the placebo group (relative risk, 0.92; 95% confidence interval, 0.81 to 1.05; P=0.22). The total number of units of blood products that were transfused during hospitalization was 4331 in the tranexamic acid group and 7994 in the placebo group (P<0.001). Major hemorrhage or cardiac tamponade leading to reoperation occurred in 1.4% of the patients in the tranexamic acid group and in 2.8% of the patients in the placebo group (P=0.001), and seizures occurred in 0.7% and 0.1%, respectively (P=0.002 by Fisher's exact test).
Among patients undergoing coronary-artery surgery, tranexamic acid was associated with a lower risk of bleeding than was placebo, without a higher risk of death or thrombotic complications within 30 days after surgery. Tranexamic acid was associated with a higher risk of postoperative seizures. (Funded by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council and others; ATACAS Australia New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry number, ACTRN12605000557639 .).
Objective
To evaluate whether the initial chest X-ray (CXR) severity assessed by an AI system may have prognostic utility in patients with COVID-19.
Methods
This retrospective single-center study ...included adult patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) between February 25 and April 9, 2020, with SARS-CoV-2 infection confirmed on real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Initial CXRs obtained on ED presentation were evaluated by a deep learning artificial intelligence (AI) system and compared with the Radiographic Assessment of Lung Edema (RALE) score, calculated by two experienced radiologists. Death and critical COVID-19 (admission to intensive care unit (ICU) or deaths occurring before ICU admission) were identified as clinical outcomes. Independent predictors of adverse outcomes were evaluated by multivariate analyses.
Results
Six hundred ninety-seven 697 patients were included in the study: 465 males (66.7%), median age of 62 years (IQR 52–75). Multivariate analyses adjusting for demographics and comorbidities showed that an AI system-based score ≥ 30 on the initial CXR was an independent predictor both for mortality (HR 2.60 (95% CI 1.69 − 3.99;
p
< 0.001)) and critical COVID-19 (HR 3.40 (95% CI 2.35–4.94;
p
< 0.001)). Other independent predictors were RALE score, older age, male sex, coronary artery disease, COPD, and neurodegenerative disease.
Conclusion
AI- and radiologist-assessed disease severity scores on CXRs obtained on ED presentation were independent and comparable predictors of adverse outcomes in patients with COVID-19.
Trial registration
ClinicalTrials.gov
NCT04318366 (
https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04318366
).
Key Points
• AI system–based score ≥ 30 and a RALE score ≥ 12 at CXRs performed at ED presentation are independent and comparable predictors of death and/or ICU admission in COVID-19 patients.
• Other independent predictors are older age, male sex, coronary artery disease, COPD, and neurodegenerative disease.
• The comparable performance of the AI system in relation to a radiologist-assessed score in predicting adverse outcomes may represent a game-changer in resource-constrained settings.
We suggest the use of MicroCLOTS (microvascular COVID-19 lung vessels obstructive thromboinflammatory syndrome) as a new name for severe pulmonary coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We hypothesise ...that, in predisposed individuals, alveolar viral damage is followed by an inflammatory reaction and by microvascular pulmonary thrombosis. This progressive endothelial thromboinflammatory syndrome may also involve the microvascular bed of the brain and other vital organs, leading to multiple organ failure and death. Future steps in the understanding of the disease and in the identification of treatments may benefit from this definition and hypothesised sequence of events.
Vasopressors and fluids are the cornerstones for the treatment of shock. The current international guidelines on shock recommend norepinephrine as the first-line vasopressor and vasopressin as the ...second-line vasopressor. In clinical practice, due to drug availability, local practice variations, special settings, and ongoing research, several alternative vasoconstrictors and adjuncts are used in the absence of precise equivalent doses. Norepinephrine equivalence (NEE) is frequently used in clinical trials to overcome this heterogeneity and describe vasopressor support in a standardized manner. NEE quantifies the total amount of vasopressors, considering the potency of each such agent, which typically includes catecholamines, derivatives, and vasopressin. Intensive care studies use NEE as an eligibility criterion and also an outcome measure. On the other hand, NEE has several pitfalls which clinicians should know, important the lack of conversion of novel vasopressors such as angiotensin II and also adjuncts such as methylene blue, including a lack of high-quality data to support the equation and validate its predictive performance in all types of critical care practice. This review describes the history of NEE and suggests an updated formula incorporating novel vasopressors and adjuncts.
In addition to the directly attributed mortality, COVID-19 is also likely to increase mortality indirectly. In this systematic review, we investigate the direct and indirect effects of COVID-19 on ...out-of-hospital cardiac arrests.
We searched PubMed, BioMedCentral, Embase and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials for studies comparing out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occurring during the pandemic and a non-pandemic period. Risk of bias was assessed with the ROBINS-I tool. The primary endpoint was return of spontaneous circulation. Secondary endpoints were bystander-initiated cardiopulmonary resuscitation, survival to hospital discharge, and survival with favourable neurological outcome.
We identified six studies. In two studies, rates of return of spontaneous circulation and survival to hospital discharge decreased significantly during the pandemic. Especially in Europe, bystander-witnessed cases, bystander-initiated cardiopulmonary resuscitation and resuscitation attempted by emergency medical services were reduced during the pandemic. Also, ambulance response times were significantly delayed across all studies and patients presenting with non-shockable rhythms increased in two studies. In 2020, 3.9–5.9% of tested patients were SARS-CoV-2 positive and 4.8–26% had suggestive symptoms (fever and cough or dyspnoea).
Out-of-hospital cardiac arrests had worse short-term outcomes during the pandemic than a non-pandemic period suggesting direct effects of COVID-19 infection and indirect effects from lockdown and disruption of healthcare systems. Patients at high risk of deterioration should be identified outside the hospital to promptly initiate treatment and reduce fatalities.
Study registration PROSPERO CRD42020195794.
Propofol is one of the most widely used hypnotic agents in the world. Nonetheless, propofol might have detrimental effects on clinically relevant outcomes, possibly due to inhibition of other ...interventions' organ protective properties. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials to evaluate if propofol reduced survival compared to any other hypnotic agent in any clinical setting.
We searched eligible studies in PubMed, Google Scholar, and the Cochrane Register of Clinical Trials. The following inclusion criteria were used: random treatment allocation and comparison between propofol and any comparator in any clinical setting. The primary outcome was mortality at the longest follow-up available. We conducted a fixed-effects meta-analysis for the risk ratio (RR). Using this RR and 95% confidence interval, we estimated the probability of any harm (RR > 1) through Bayesian statistics. We registered this systematic review and meta-analysis in PROSPERO International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (CRD42022323143).
We identified 252 randomized trials comprising 30,757 patients. Mortality was higher in the propofol group than in the comparator group (760/14,754 5.2% vs. 682/16,003 4.3%; RR = 1.10; 95% confidence interval, 1.01-1.20; p = 0.03; I
= 0%; number needed to harm = 235), corresponding to a 98.4% probability of any increase in mortality. A statistically significant mortality increase in the propofol group was confirmed in subgroups of cardiac surgery, adult patients, volatile agent as comparator, large studies, and studies with low mortality in the comparator arm.
Propofol may reduce survival in perioperative and critically ill patients. This needs careful assessment of the risk versus benefit of propofol compared to other agents while planning for large, pragmatic multicentric randomized controlled trials to provide a definitive answer.
Alarms from monitors, medical devices and staff activities increase noise levels in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and may disrupt sleep patterns 1 contributing to the development of delirium and ...post-intensive care syndrome 2. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommend that hospital noise levels should not exceed 35 A-weighted decibels (dBA) during the day and 30 dBA at night 3. ...we exported Health data from the personal Apple Watch of a nurse working in a 14 beds referral cardiothoracic ICU managing patients after cardiac surgery and those with cardiogenic shock, refractory cardiac arrest, and respiratory failure.
Data on residual clinical damage after Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) are lacking. The aims of this study were to investigate whether COVID-19 leaves behind residual dysfunction, and identify ...patients who might benefit from post-discharge monitoring. All patients aged ≥18 years admitted to the Emergency Department (ED) for COVID-19, and evaluated at post-discharge follow-up between 7 April and 7 May, 2020, were enrolled. Primary outcome was need of follow-up, defined as the presence at follow-up of at least one among: respiratory rate (RR) >20 breaths/min, uncontrolled blood pressure (BP) requiring therapeutic change, moderate to very severe dyspnoea, malnutrition, or new-onset cognitive impairment, according to validated scores. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) served as secondary outcome. 185 patients were included. Median interquartile range time from hospital discharge to follow-up was 23 20-29 days. 109 (58.9%) patients needed follow-up. At follow-up evaluation, 58 (31.3%) patients were dyspnoeic, 41 (22.2%) tachypnoeic, 10 (5.4%) malnourished, 106 (57.3%) at risk for malnutrition. Forty (21.6%) patients had uncontrolled BP requiring therapeutic change, and 47 (25.4%) new-onset cognitive impairment. PTSD was observed in 41 (22.2%) patients. At regression tree analysis, the ratio of arterial oxygen partial pressure to fractional inspired oxygen (PaO2/FiO2) and body mass index (BMI) at ED presentation, and age emerged as independent predictors of the need of follow-up. Patients with PaO2/FiO2 <324 and BMI ≥33 Kg/m2 had the highest odds to require follow-up. Among hospitalised patients, age ≥63 years, or age <63 plus non-invasive ventilation or diabetes identified those with the highest probability to need follow-up. PTSD was independently predicted by female gender and hospitalisation, the latter being protective (odds ratio, OR, 4.03, 95% confidence interval, CI, 1.76 to 9.47, p 0.0011; OR 0.37, 95% CI 0.14 to 0.92, p 0.033, respectively). COVID-19 leaves behind physical and psychological dysfunctions. Follow-up programmes should be implemented for selected patients.
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