Objective
Brain injury is well established as a cause of early mortality after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA), but postresuscitation shock also contributes to these deaths. This study aims to ...describe the respective incidence, risk factors, and relation to mortality of post-cardiac arrest (CA) shock and brain injury.
Design
Retrospective analysis of an observational cohort.
Setting
24-bed medical intensive care unit (ICU) in a French university hospital.
Patients
All consecutive patients admitted following OHCA were considered for analysis. Post-CA shock was defined as a need for infusion of vasoactive drugs after resuscitation. Death related to brain injury included brain death and care withdrawal for poor neurological evolution.
Intervention
None.
Measurements and main results
Between 2000 and 2009, 1,152 patients were admitted after OHCA. Post-CA shock occurred in 789 (68 %) patients. Independent factors associated with its onset were high blood lactate and creatinine levels at ICU admission. During the ICU stay, 269 (34.8 %) patients died from post-CA shock and 499 (65.2 %) from neurological injury. Age, raised blood lactate and creatinine values, and time from collapse to restoration of spontaneous circulation increased the risk of ICU mortality from both shock and brain injury, whereas a shockable rhythm was associated with reduced risk of death from these causes. Finally, bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) decreased the risk of death from neurological injury.
Conclusions
Brain injury accounts for the majority of deaths, but post-CA shock affects more than two-thirds of OHCA patients. Mortality from post-CA shock and brain injury share similar risk factors, which are related to the quality of the rescue process.
Background
The aim of this study is to determine whether severe COVID-19 patients harbour a higher risk of ICU-acquired pneumonia.
Methods
This retrospective multicentre cohort study comprised all ...consecutive patients admitted to seven ICUs for severe COVID-19 pneumonia during the first COVID-19 surge in France. Inclusion criteria were laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection and requirement for invasive mechanical ventilation for 48 h or more. Control groups were two historical cohorts of mechanically ventilated patients admitted to the ICU for bacterial or non-SARS-CoV-2 viral pneumonia. The outcome of interest was the development of ICU-acquired pneumonia. The determinants of ICU-acquired pneumonia were investigated in a multivariate competing risk analysis.
Result
One hundred and seventy-six patients with severe SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia admitted to the ICU between March 1st and 30th June of 2020 were included into the study. Historical control groups comprised 435 patients with bacterial pneumonia and 48 ones with viral pneumonia. ICU-acquired pneumonia occurred in 52% of COVID-19 patients, whereas in 26% and 23% of patients with bacterial or viral pneumonia, respectively (
p
< 0.001). Times from initiation of mechanical ventilation to ICU-acquired pneumonia were similar across the three groups. In multivariate analysis, the risk of ICU-acquired pneumonia remained independently associated with underlying COVID-19 (SHR = 2.18; 95 CI 1.2–3.98,
p
= 0.011).
Conclusion
COVID-19 appears an independent risk factor of ICU-acquired pneumonia in mechanically ventilated patients with pneumonia. Whether this is driven by immunomodulatory properties by the SARS-CoV-2 or this is related to particular processes of care remains to be investigated.
Managing patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) requires frequent changes in mechanical ventilator respiratory settings to optimize arterial oxygenation assessed by arterial oxygen ...partial pressure (PaO
) and saturation (SaO
). Pulse oxymetry (SpO
) has been suggested as a non-invasive surrogate for arterial oxygenation however its accuracy in COVID-19 patients is unknown. In this study, we aimed to investigate the influence of COVID-19 status on the association between SpO
and arterial oxygenation. We prospectively included patients with ARDS and compared COVID-19 to non-COVID-19 patients, regarding SpO
and concomitant arterial oxygenation (SaO
and PaO
) measurements, and their association. Bias was defined as mean difference between SpO
and SaO
measurements. Occult hypoxemia was defined as a SpO
≥ 92% while concomitant SaO
< 88%. Multiple linear regression models were built to account for confounders. We also assessed concordance between positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) trial-induced changes in SpO
and in arterial oxygenation. We included 55 patients, among them 26 (47%) with COVID-19. Overall, SpO
and SaO
measurements were correlated (r = 0.70; p < 0.0001), however less so in COVID-19 than in non-COVID-19 patients (r = 0.55, p < 0.0001 vs. r = 0.84, p < 0.0001, p = 0.002 for intergroup comparison). Bias was + 1.1%, greater in COVID-19 than in non-COVID-19 patients (2.0 vs. 0.3%; p = 0.02). In multivariate analysis, bias was associated with COVID-19 status (unstandardized β = 1.77, 95%CI = 0.38-3.15, p = 0.01), ethnic group and ARDS severity. Occult hypoxemia occurred in 5.5% of measurements (7.7% in COVID-19 patients vs. 3.4% in non-COVID-19 patients, p = 0.42). Concordance rate between PEEP trial-induced changes in SpO
and SaO
was 84%, however less so in COVID-19 than in non-COVID-19 patients (69% vs. 97%, respectively). Similar results were observed for PaO
regarding correlations, bias, and concordance with SpO
changes. In patients with ARDS, SpO
was associated with arterial oxygenation, but COVID-19 status significantly altered this association.
Although guidelines on post-resuscitation care recommend the use of short-acting agents for sedation during targeted temperature management (TTM) after cardiac arrest (CA), the potential advantages ...of this strategy have not been clinically demonstrated.
We compared two sedation regimens (propofol-remifentanil, period P2, vs midazolam-fentanyl, period P1) among comatose TTM-treated CA survivors. Management protocol, apart from sedation and neuromuscular blockers use, did not change between the two periods. Baseline severity was assessed with Cardiac-Arrest-Hospital-Prognosis (CAHP) score. Time to awakening was measured starting from discontinuation of sedation at the end of rewarming. Awakening was defined as delayed when it occurred after more than 48 h.
460 patients (134 in P2, 326 in P1) were included. CAHP score did not significantly differ between P2 and P1 (P = 0.93). Sixty percent of patients awoke in both periods (81/134 vs. 194/326, P = 0.85). Median time to awakening was 2.5 (IQR 1–9) hours in P2 vs. 17 (IQR 7–60) hours in P1. Awakening was delayed in 6% of patients in P2 vs. 29% in P1 (p < 0.001). After adjustment, P2 was associated with significantly lower odds of delayed awakening (OR 0.08, 95% CI 0.03–0.2; P < 0.001). Patients in P2 had significantly more ventilator-free days (25 vs. 24 days; P = 0.007), and lower catecholamine-free days within day 28. Survival and favorable neurologic outcome at discharge did not differ across periods.
During TTM following resuscitation from CA, sedation with propofol-remifentanil was associated with significantly earlier awakening and more ventilator-free days as compared with midazolam-fentanyl.
The success of any donation process requires that potential brain-dead donors (PBDD) are detected and referred early to professionals responsible for their evaluation and conversion to actual donors. ...The intensivist plays a crucial role in organ donation. However, identification and referral of PBDDs may be suboptimal in the critical care environment. Factors influencing lower rates of detection and referral include the lack of specific training and the need to provide concomitant urgent care to other critically ill patients. Excellent communication between the ICU staff and the procurement organization is necessary to ensure the optimization of both the number and quality of organs transplanted. The organ donation process has been improved over the last two decades with the involvement and commitment of many healthcare professionals. Clinical protocols have been developed and implemented to better organize the multidisciplinary approach to organ donation. In this manuscript, we aim to highlight the main steps of organ donation, taking into account the following: early identification and evaluation of the PBDD with the use of checklists; donor management, including clinical maintenance of the PBDD with high-quality intensive care to prevent graft failure in recipients and strategies for optimizing donated organs by simplified care standards, clinical guidelines and alert tools; the key role of the intensivist in the donation process with the interaction between ICU professionals and transplant coordinators, nurse protocol managers, and communication skills training; and a final remark on the importance of the development of research with further insight into brain death pathophysiology and reversible organ damage.
Purpose
Characteristics of acute kidney injury (AKI) occurring after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) are incompletely described. We aimed to evaluate the prevalence of AKI, identifying risk ...factors and assessing the impact of AKI on outcome after OHCA.
Methods
Single-center study between 2007 and 2012 in a cardiac arrest center in Paris, France. All consecutive OHCA patients with at least one weight measurement and one serum creatinine level available and treated by therapeutic hypothermia were included, except those with chronic kidney disease and those dead on arrival. AKI was defined as stage 3 of the Acute Kidney Injury Network (AKIN) classification. Main outcome was day-30 mortality. Factors associated with AKI occurrence and day-30 mortality were evaluated by logistic regression.
Results
580 patients (71.3 % male, median age 59.3 years, initial shockable rhythm in 56.9 % of cases) were included in the analysis. AKI stage 3 occurred in 280 (48.3 %) patients. Age, male gender, resuscitation duration, post-resuscitation shock, public setting, and initial rhythm were associated with AKI stage 3. AKI stage 3 was associated with a significantly higher day-30 mortality rate OR 1.60; 95 % CI (1.05, 2.43);
p
= 0.03. No independent association between AKI and neurologic outcome was observed. At day 30, 67 patients had a normal kidney function (eGFR >75 mL/min/1.73 m
2
), and five remained dialysis-dependent. Patients with eGFR higher than 75 mL/min/1.73 m
2
at day 30 were younger and more frequently male.
Conclusion
AKI stage 3 was frequent after OHCA and was associated with poorer outcome. Improvement strategies in post-resuscitation care should consider AKI as a potential target of treatment.
Abstract
Background
High-flow nasal oxygen therapy (HFNC) may be an attractive first-line ventilatory support in COVID-19 patients. However, HNFC use for the management of COVID-19 patients and risk ...factors for HFNC failure remain to be determined.
Methods
In this retrospective study, we included all consecutive COVID-19 patients admitted to our intensive care unit (ICU) in the first (Mars-May 2020) and second (August 2020- February 202) French pandemic waves. Patients with limitations for intubation were excluded. HFNC failure was defined as the need for intubation after ICU admission. The impact of HFNC use was analyzed in the whole cohort and after constructing a propensity score. Risk factors for HNFC failure were identified through a landmark time-dependent cause-specific Cox model. The ability of the 6-h ROX index to detect HFNC failure was assessed by generating receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve.
Results
200 patients were included: HFNC was used in 114(57%) patients, non-invasive ventilation in 25(12%) patients and 145(72%) patients were intubated with a median delay of 0 (0–2) days after ICU admission. Overall, 78(68%) patients had HFNC failure. Patients with HFNC failure had a higher ICU mortality rate (34 vs. 11%, p = 0.02) than those without. At landmark time of 48 and 72 h, SAPS-2 score, extent of CT-Scan abnormalities > 75% and HFNC duration (cause specific hazard ratio (CSH) = 0.11, 95% CI (0.04–0.28), per + 1 day, p < 0.001 at 48 h and CSH = 0.06, 95% CI (0.02–0.23), per + 1 day, p < 0.001 at 72 h) were associated with HFNC failure. The 6-h ROX index was lower in patients with HFNC failure but could not reliably predicted HFNC failure with an area under ROC curve of 0.65 (95% CI(0.52–0.78), p = 0.02). In the matched cohort, HFNC use was associated with a lower risk of intubation (CSH = 0.32, 95% CI (0.19–0.57), p < 0.001).
Conclusions
In critically-ill COVID-19 patients, while HFNC use as first-line ventilatory support was associated with a lower risk of intubation, more than half of patients had HFNC failure. Risk factors for HFNC failure were SAPS-2 score and extent of CT-Scan abnormalities > 75%. The risk of HFNC failure could not be predicted by the 6-h ROX index but decreased after a 48-h HFNC duration.
Timing and causes of death in septic shock Daviaud, Fabrice; Grimaldi, David; Dechartres, Agnès ...
Annals of intensive care,
06/2015, Volume:
5, Issue:
1
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Background
Most studies about septic shock report a crude mortality rate that neither distinguishes between early and late deaths nor addresses the direct causes of death. We herein aimed to ...determine the modalities of death in septic shock.
Methods
This was a 6-year (2008–2013) monocenter retrospective study. All consecutive patients diagnosed for septic shock within the first 48 h of intensive care unit (ICU) admission were included. Early and late deaths were defined as occurring within or after 3 days following ICU admission, respectively. The main cause of death in the ICU was determined from medical files. A multinomial logistic regression analysis using the status alive as the reference category was performed to identify the prognostic factors associated with early and late deaths.
Results
Five hundred forty-three patients were included, with a mean age of 66 ± 15 years and a high proportion (67 %) of comorbidities. The in-ICU and in-hospital mortality rates were 37.2 and 45 %, respectively. Deaths occurred early for 78 (32 %) and later on for 166 (68 %) patients in the ICU (
n
= 124) or in the hospital (
n
= 42). Early deaths were mainly attributable to intractable multiple organ failure related to the primary infection (82 %) and to mesenteric ischemia (6.4 %). In-ICU late deaths were directly related to end-of-life decisions in 29 % of patients and otherwise mostly related to ICU-acquired complications, including nosocomial infections (20.4 %) and mesenteric ischemia (16.6 %). Independent determinants of early death were age, malignancy, diabetes mellitus, no pathogen identification, and initial severity. Among 3-day survivors, independent risk factors for late death were age, cirrhosis, no pathogen identification, and previous corticosteroid treatment.
Conclusions
Our study provides a comprehensive assessment of septic shock-related deaths. Identification of risk factors of early and late deaths may determine differential prognostic patterns.
Infectious complications are frequently reported in critically ill patients, especially after cardiac arrest. Recent and widespread use of therapeutic hypothermia has raised concerns about increased ...septic complications, but no specific reappraisal has been performed. We investigated the infectious complications in cardiac arrest survivors and assessed their impact on morbidity and long-term outcome.
Retrospective review of a prospectively acquired intensive care unit database.
A 24-bed medical intensive care unit in a French university hospital.
Between March 2004 and March 2008, consecutive patients admitted for management of resuscitated out-of-hospital cardiac arrest were considered. Patients dying within 24 hrs were excluded. All patients' files were reviewed to assess the development of infection.
None.
Of the 537 patients admitted after cardiac arrest, 421 were included and 281 patients (67%) presented 373 infectious complications. Pneumonia was the most frequent (318 episodes), followed by bloodstream infections (35 episodes) and catheter-related infections (11 episodes). When grouped together, Gram-negative bacteria were the most frequently isolated infectious germs (64%), but the main pathogen detected was Staphylococcus aureus (57 occurrences). Both application itself (83 vs. 73%; p = .02) and duration (1244 vs. 1176 mins; p = .05) of therapeutic hypothermia were significantly more frequent in infected patients. Infection was associated with increased mechanical ventilation duration (6 2-9 vs. 3 2-5.5 days; p < .001) and intensive care unit length of stay (7 4-10 vs. 3 2-7 days; p < .001). Nonetheless, there was no impact on intensive care unit mortality (174 62% vs. 92 66% patients; p = .45) or on favorable neurologic outcome (cerebral performance category 1-2, 102 36% vs. 47 34% patients; p = .58).
Infectious complications are frequent after cardiac arrest and may be even more frequent after therapeutic hypothermia. Despite increase in care costs, long-term and clinically relevant outcomes do not seem to be impaired. This should not discourage the use of therapeutic hypothermia in cardiac arrest survivors.
Background
To assess in comatose patients after cardiac arrest (CA) if amplitudes of two somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEP) responses, namely, N20-baseline (N20-b) and N20–P25, are predictive of ...neurological outcome.
Methods
Monocentric prospective study in a tertiary cardiac center between Nov 2019 and July-2021. All patients comatose at 72 h after CA with at least one SSEP recorded were included. The N20-b and N20–P25 amplitudes were automatically measured in microvolts (µV), along with other recommended prognostic markers (status myoclonus, neuron-specific enolase levels at 2 and 3 days, and EEG pattern). We assessed the predictive value of SSEP for neurologic outcome using the best Cerebral Performance Categories (CPC1 or 2 as good outcome) at 3 months (main endpoint) and 6 months (secondary endpoint). Specificity and sensitivity of different thresholds of SSEP amplitudes, alone or in combination with other prognostic markers, were calculated.
Results
Among 82 patients, a poor outcome (CPC 3–5) was observed in 78% of patients at 3 months. The median time to SSEP recording was 3(2–4) days after CA, with a pattern “bilaterally absent” in 19 patients, “unilaterally present” in 4, and “bilaterally present” in 59 patients. The median N20-b amplitudes were different between patients with poor and good outcomes, i.e., 0.93 0–2.05µV vs. 1.56 1.24–2.75µV, respectively (
p
< 0.0001), as the median N20–P25 amplitudes (0.57 0–1.43µV in poor outcome vs. 2.64 1.39–3.80µV in good outcome patients
p
< 0.0001). An N20-b > 2 µV predicted good outcome with a specificity of 73% and a moderate sensitivity of 39%, although an N20–P25 > 3.2 µV was 93% specific and only 30% sensitive. A low voltage N20-b < 0.88 µV and N20–P25 < 1 µV predicted poor outcome with a high specificity (sp = 94% and 93%, respectively) and a moderate sensitivity (se = 50% and 66%). Association of “bilaterally absent or low voltage SSEP” patterns increased the sensitivity significantly as compared to “bilaterally absent” SSEP alone (se = 58 vs. 30%,
p
= 0.002) for prediction of poor outcome.
Conclusion
In comatose patient after CA, both N20-b and N20–P25 amplitudes could predict both good and poor outcomes with high specificity but low to moderate sensitivity. Our results suggest that caution is needed regarding SSEP amplitudes in clinical routine, and that these indicators should be used in a multimodal approach for prognostication after cardiac arrest.
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