Increased Dead Space Ventilation and Refractory Hypercapnia in Patients with COVID-19

We speculate that thromboinflammation with pulmonary microvasculature occlusion leads to a sudden increase in dead space and shunt resulting in severe hypercapnia and hypoxemia in coronavirus disease 2019 patients. Early... read more

Cancer Biomarker Measurement using a Smartphone

Canadian researchers create technology that reads cancer biomarker like a blood-sugar monitor. Researchers at the Canadian McMaster and Brock universities have created the prototype for a smartphone device to measure a biomarker... read more

Effect of Vitamin C Infusion on Organ Failure and Biomarkers of Inflammation and Vascular Injury in Patients With Sepsis and ARDS

In this preliminary study of patients with sepsis and ARDS, a 96-hour infusion of vitamin C compared with placebo did not significantly improve organ dysfunction scores or alter markers of inflammation and vascular injury.... read more

Biomarkers of Sepsis: Time for a Reappraisal

The precise roles of most biomarkers in the management of septic patients have not been well defined, and of the many biomarkers that have been studied, only a few have been evaluated in large or repeated studies. As... read more

Lenzilumab Showed Rapid Clinical Improvement in 12 COVID-19 Patients

Humanigen, the clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on preventing and treating cytokine storm, has reported positive data from the first clinical use of lenzilumab, its humaneered anti-human granulocyte macrophage-colony... read more

A Novel ECG-biomarker for Cardiac Arrest During Hypothermia

Treatment of arrhythmias evoked by accidental or therapeutic hypothermia and rewarming remains challenging. We aim to find an ECG-biomarker that can predict ventricular arrhythmias at temperatures occurring in therapeutic... read more

Early Identification of Disease Progression in Patients with Suspected Infection Presenting to the ED

In patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) with a suspected infection, the blood biomarker MR-proADM could most accurately identify the likelihood of further disease progression. Incorporation into an early sepsis... read more

Intravenous Fluid Therapy in Critically Ill Adults

Despite the administration of intravenous fluids to critically ill patients being a near-universal intervention, the available evidence base guiding their safe and appropriate use is scarce and derived mainly from academically... read more

Correlation Among Endothelial Injury, Organ Dysfunction, and Several Biomarkers in Sepsis Patients

Protein C was superior for the prediction of organ dysfunction after 7 days of ICU treatment when compared with other biomarkers of endothelial function, inflammation, and coagulation. C-reactive protein (CRP) and white blood... read more

Abnormalities in the Host Immune Response During Hospitalization for Sepsis

In this cohort study of 483 patients who survived hospitalization with sepsis at 12 US hospitals, 25.8% had elevated high-sensitivity C-reactive protein levels (a marker of inflammation) at 3 months, 30.2% at 6 months, and... read more

Assessment of immune organ dysfunction in critical illness

Critical illness may often induce persisting injury-associated immunosuppression with adverse effects on relevant patient-centered outcomes. However, despite the key task of ICU physicians to detect, monitor, and follow up... read more

Biomarkers and Clinical Scores to Identify Patient Populations at Risk of Delayed Antibiotic Administration or Intensive Care Admission

Patients with low severity signs of infection but high MR-proADM concentrations had an increased likelihood of subsequent disease progression, delayed antibiotic administration or ICU admission. Appropriate triage decisions... read more

Vitamin C for Sepsis

Dr. Alpha A. Fowler of Virginia Commonwealth University presented findings from the CITRIS-ALI trial that studied the role of vitamin C in patients with septic ARDS. The findings were presented @ESICM in Berlin and have just... read more

Effect of Vitamin C Infusion on Organ Failure in Patients With Sepsis and ARDS

In this preliminary study of patients with sepsis and Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), a 96-hour infusion of vitamin C compared with placebo did not significantly improve organ dysfunction scores or alter markers... read more

Comparison of Diagnostic Accuracy Among Procalcitonin, C-reactive protein, and Interleukin 6 for Blood Culture Positivity in General ICU Patients

Despite various technological advances, it still usually takes at least 24 to 48 h to obtain a blood culture result. The subsequent delays in diagnosis and treatment of infection can negatively impact care in the intensive... read more

Derivation and Validation of Plasma Endostatin for Predicting Renal Recovery from AKI

Plasma endostatin shows a useful value for predicting failure to recover from acute kidney injury (AKI). The predictive ability can be greatly improved when endostatin is combined with the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment... read more

Phenotyping: Need to Identify Subgroups of ARDS Patients

The consensus definitions of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) mainly rely on feasible clinical criteria, which help to group patients together for inclusion in clinical trials and for clinical management. This generates... read more

Combined Biomarkers Predict Acute Mortality Among Critically Ill Patients With Suspected Sepsis

Combined biomarkers predict risk for 14-day and total mortality among subjects with suspected sepsis. Serum amyloid P and tissue plasminogen activator demonstrated the best discriminatory ability in this cohort. Fourteen-day... read more

Immunotherapy Effects on Sepsis

A randomised controlled multicentre trial assessed for the first time the safety and pharmacokinetics of an antiprogrammed cell death-ligand 1 (anti–PD-L1) immune checkpoint inhibitor (BMS-936559; Bristol-Myers Squibb,... read more

Neutrophil Extracellular Traps Are Elevated in Patients with Pneumonia-related ARDS

Bronchoalveolar neutrophil extracellular trap concentration was not significantly associated with mechanical ventilation duration in pneumonia-related ARDS. The acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is the most severe... read more

New Guidelines for Hospital-acquired Pneumonia/Ventilator-associated Pneumonia

American and European guidelines have many areas of common agreement such as limiting antibiotic duration. Both guidelines were in favor of a close clinical assessment. Neither recommended a regular use of biomarkers but... read more

Surfactant protein D is a causal risk factor for COPD

Surfactant protein D (SP-D) is produced primarily in the lung and is involved in regulating pulmonary surfactants, lipid homeostasis and innate immunity. Circulating SP-D levels in blood are associated with chronic obstructive... read more