Beyond the Pressure: Moving Toward Personalized Sepsis Care

In the high-stakes environment of septic shock, the current clinical "gold standard" remains the early initiation of norepinephrine. However, when blood pressure targets aren't met, the next steps often become a pragmatic... read more

Less Steroids, Better Outcomes: High-Dose Corticosteroids Harm ICU COPD Patients

A large pharmacoepidemiologic cohort study of over 17,000 US patients admitted directly to ICUs for acute exacerbations of COPD revealed that two-thirds received high-dose systemic corticosteroids (>240 mg/day methylprednisolone... read more

Refining Neuromuscular Blockade Use in ARDS

Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) remains a critical challenge in medicine, persistently linked to mortality rates exceeding 30% despite extensive research over the years. The lack of effective drug treatments means... read more

Systemic Corticosteroids for Inflammatory Disorders in Pediatrics

This comprehensive volume provides current state of the art of the use of corticosteroids in the pediatric patient. It consists of 14 chapters written by leading authors from different countries. The first chapters cover... read more

Systemic Corticosteroids for Inflammatory Disorders in Pediatrics

Breadth of Antibiotics Trumps Dose and Duration in Driving ICU Superbugs

In a large prospective cohort study across four ICUs (422 patients enrolled from March 2024 to January 2025), 35.8% of patients acquired carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (CR-GNB) during their stay. Using sophisticated... read more

Steroids Save Lives in Severe Pneumonia and ARDS – Without Spiking Superbug Risk

A rigorous new systematic review and meta-analysis of 20 high-quality trials (3,459 patients) confirms that low-dose, short-course systemic corticosteroids significantly reduce short-term mortality in both severe pneumonia... read more

Corticosteroids in ARDS: Delaying High-Dose Methylprednisolone Doesn’t Kill

This large retrospective study investigated whether starting high-dose (2 mg/kg) methylprednisolone therapy after 14 days of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) onset increased the risk of complications or mortality... read more

Postoperative Steroids Linked to Longer Time on Ventilator

Postoperative use of systemic corticosteroids was linked to a longer duration of mechanical ventilation (MV), but it did not increase mortality or overall complications. While the study's initial analysis did not show... read more

Neurally Adjusted Ventilatory Assist Decreases the Requirement of Corticosteroids

This study aimed to evaluate the incidence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) and the dosage of corticosteroids in extremely preterm infants with the implementation of neurally adjusted ventilatory assist (NAVA). This... read more

Femoral Head Osteonecrosis in Post-COVID-19 Patients

This study provides an insight into the relationship between COVID-19-related factors and the development of osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH), emphasizing the critical role of cumulative steroid dose as the primary... read more

Cytomegalovirus Infection Adverse Impact on ICU Outcomes in COVID-19 Patients

In critically ill patients with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia, cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection was frequently observed, and associated with increased ICU and hospital mortality. CMV co-infection correlated with a higher incidence... read more

COVID-19 vs non-COVID-19 Patients Without Hematological Malignancies Treated for Invasive Pulmonary Aspergillosis

COVID-19-associated pulmonary aspergillosis (CAPA) patients have less comorbidities and higher fungal burden compared to Putative Invasive Pulmonary Aspergillosis (PIPA), but clinical outcomes are similar between groups.... read more

Methylprednisolone vs. Hydrocortisone in Septic Shock Patients

Corticosteroids play an important role in the management of septic shock patients, especially in those with higher doses of vasopressor. However, the therapeutic benefits of corticosteroids are not limited to hydrocortisone... read more

Thiamine and Ascorbic Acid in Sepsis and Septic Shock

Exploring the individual and synergistic effects of ascorbic acid and thiamine on key pathways implicated in sepsis pathophysiology has not yielded unequivocal evidence supporting their use without concomitant corticosteroids. Heterogeneity... read more

Postoperative Liver Dysfunction After Lung Transplantation with Extracorporeal Life Support and 1-year Mortality

In this retrospective cohort study, we identified an elevated 1-year mortality rate among patients who developed postoperative liver dysfunction, as defined by the presence of HLD, DILI-like symptoms, and cholestasis subsequent... read more

Handbook of Corticosteroids

Corticosteroids are a class of steroid hormones which are mainly produced in the adrenal cortex of the vertebrates but are also synthesized artificially. They ease redness, itching, swelling and allergic reactions. There... read more

Handbook of Corticosteroids

Evaluation Effects of Nebulized Hypertonic Saline and Nebulized Corticosteroids in Patients with ARDS

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a common clinical syndrome of acute respiratory failure as a result of diffuse lung inflammation and oedema manifested by hypoxemia and stiffness in the lungs. This study... read more

Corticosteroid Therapy and Pulmonary Embolism in Polytrauma Patients

Pulmonary embolism is a frequent complication in polytrauma patients. The aim of our study was to evaluate the effect of low-dose corticosteroid therapy on the incidence of pulmonary embolism (PE) in polytrauma patients.... read more

Corticosteroid Therapy and Pulmonary Embolism in Polytrauma Patients

Predictors of Functional Impairment in Severe COVID-19 Patients Two Months After Discharge

The Post-COVID-19 Functional Status (PCFS) scale is a validated tool for assessing functional impairment in COVID-19 patients. While this retrospective monocentric study identified multiple risk factors associated with... read more

Managing Blood Glucose Control in the ICU

Current evidence supports avoiding iatrogenic factors that aggravate hyperglycemia, such as early-PN and liberal corticosteroid use, and does not support TGC, except with accurate tools and protocols that prevent iatrogenic... read more

Microbial Dynamics and Pulmonary Immune Responses in COVID-19 Secondary Bacterial Pneumonia

Secondary bacterial pneumonia (2°BP) is associated with significant morbidity following respiratory viral infection, yet remains incompletely understood. In a prospective cohort of 112 critically ill adults intubated... read more

Corticosteroid Treatment and Survival in Critically Ill COVID-19 Patients

Our multinational study identified three distinct clinical COVID-19 phenotypes, each exhibiting marked differences in demographic, clinical, and immunological features, and in the response to late and short-term corticosteroid... read more