Heparin 2.0: A New Approach to the Infection Crisis

Heparin 2.0: A New Approach to the Infection Crisis

In April 2020, the US Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorization for certain medical devices to be used in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (CO­VID-19). This included extracorporeal blood purification... read more

Unfractionated Heparin (UFH), LMWH, Fondaparinux, Argatroban, and Bivalirudin

Unfractionated Heparin (UFH), LMWH, Fondaparinux, Argatroban, and Bivalirudin

Unfractionated heparin (UFH) binds to anti-thrombin III (AT-III), which enhances antithrombin's inhibition of several coagulation factors – especially factor Xa and factor IIa (thrombin). Low Molecular-Weight Heparin... read more

Refractory Septic Shock: Our Pragmatic Approach

Refractory Septic Shock: Our Pragmatic Approach

Despite timely intervention, there exists a small subgroup of patients with septic shock who develop progressive multi-organ failure. Seemingly refractory to conventional therapy, they exhibit a very high mortality. Such... read more

Prevalence and outcome of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia diagnosed under veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

Prevalence and outcome of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia diagnosed under veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

Prevalence of HIT among patients under VA‑ECMO is extremely low at 0.36% with an associated mortality rate of 33.3%, which appears to be in the same range as that observed in patients treated with VA‑ECMO without HIT.... read more

ECMO in the Critical Trauma Patient

ECMO in the Critical Trauma Patient

Growing evidence suggests the potential use of Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) for the treatment of refractory respiratory failure in adults, but the clinical benefit in polytraumatic patients is not clear. The... read more

Thromboelastography-based Anticoagulation Management During ECMO

Thromboelastography-based Anticoagulation Management During ECMO

Thromboelastography (TEG) seems to be safely used to guide anticoagulation management during ECMO. Its use was associated with the administration of lower heparin doses compared to a standard of care aPTT-based protocol.... read more

Cast of the Right Bronchial Tree

Cast of the Right Bronchial Tree

A 36-year-old man was admitted to the intensive care unit with an acute exacerbation of chronic heart failure. His medical history included heart failure with an ejection fraction of 20%, bioprosthetic aortic-valve replacement... read more

The Answer My Friend is Blowin’ in your Nose – High Flow Nasal Oxygen

The Answer My Friend is Blowin’ in your Nose – High Flow Nasal Oxygen

High flow nasal oxygen is a novel device that actively humidifies and heats air to make flows of up to 60 liters a minutes tolerable. These incredibly high flows are important, because in order to provide 100% fiO2 to patients... read more

Emergency Management of Intracerebral Hemorrhage – The Golden Hour

Emergency Management of Intracerebral Hemorrhage – The Golden Hour

There is a kind of self-fulfilling prognostic pessimism when it comes to Intracerebral Hemorrhage. And this pessimism sometimes leads to less than optimal care in patients who otherwise might have had a reasonably good outcome... read more

Guideline for Reversal of Antithrombotics in Intracranial Hemorrhage

Guideline for Reversal of Antithrombotics in Intracranial Hemorrhage

This guideline provides timely, evidence-based reversal strategies to assist practitioners in the care of patients with antithrombotic-associated intracranial hemorrhage. Utilizing the GRADE methodology, the committee developed... read more

FDA approves betrixaban for VTE prophylaxis

FDA approves betrixaban for VTE prophylaxis

Betrixaban, a factor Xa inhibitor, has been approved for the prophylaxis of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in at-risk adult patients hospitalized with an acute illness, according to an announcement from the Food and Drug Administration.... read more

Venous Thromboembolism Prophylaxis in Major Orthopedic Surgery

Venous Thromboembolism Prophylaxis in Major Orthopedic Surgery

Few head-to-head treatment comparisons have sufficient evidence. Most studies evaluated low molecular weight heparin (LMWH), not low-risk interventions (such as aspirin and mechanical devices); most reported on total deep... read more