Prolonged Prone Position Ventilation for SARS-CoV-2 Patients is Feasible and Effective

Prolonged Prone Position Ventilation for SARS-CoV-2 Patients is Feasible and Effective

Recently, novel coronavirus 2019 (nCOV-19) is spreading all around the world causing severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV-2) requiring mechanical ventilation in about 5% of infected people. Prone position ventilation... read more

Predictors of Care in Persons Under Investigation for COVID-19

Predictors of Care in Persons Under Investigation for COVID-19

The healthcare burden of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic extends beyond patients who test positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), according to a retrospective cohort study... read more

How to Intubate the Critically Ill Like a Boss

How to Intubate the Critically Ill Like a Boss

Despite decades of experience with endotracheal intubation, we continue to find approaches to improving the process of how we intubate. In today's post we are not only going to talk about how to avoid post intubation cardiac... read more

Implantation of Impella CP LV Assist Device Under the Guidance of 3D Intracardiac Echocardiography

Implantation of Impella CP LV Assist Device Under the Guidance of 3D Intracardiac Echocardiography

This translational study in ovine model confirms that three-dimensional intracardiac echocardiography is a feasible option to guide implantation of the Impella CP® for left ventricular mechanical support and should be considered... read more

Sharing Data is the Key to Unlocking Remdesivir Challenges

Sharing Data is the Key to Unlocking Remdesivir Challenges

Critical care teams should consider using remdesivir to treat patients with severe acute SARS-CoV-2 infection, but supply of the drug is limited and best practices for maximizing its effectiveness are not completely understood. The... read more

A Transdisciplinary COVID-19 Early Respiratory Intervention Protocol

A Transdisciplinary COVID-19 Early Respiratory Intervention Protocol

In the days after COVID-19 arrived in our region, there were many such stories of patients sent to the floor from the Emergency Department who were intubated shortly after admission. Many of those patients subsequently... read more

The Utility of Diaphragm Ultrasound in Reducing Time to Extubation

The Utility of Diaphragm Ultrasound in Reducing Time to Extubation

Predicting the optimal time for extubation is challenging, especially in patients with underlying diaphragm dysfunction. Incorporating ultrasound information on diaphragm function into usual care allowed clinicians to identify... read more

Global Effort to Collect Data on Ventilated Patients With COVID-19

Global Effort to Collect Data on Ventilated Patients With COVID-19

As the new chair of the Asia-Pacific Chapter of the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO), John Fraser, MBChB, PhD, began talking with the group's members last November about why influenza affects some people worse... read more

The End-expiratory Occlusion Test

The End-expiratory Occlusion Test

There is growing evidence that the end-expiratory occlusion (EEO) test reliably detects preload responsiveness. It is easier to perform than passive leg raising and has less limitations than pulse pressure variations, provided... read more

A Guide To Designing Low-Cost Ventilators for COVID-19

A Guide To Designing Low-Cost Ventilators for COVID-19

The best medical treatment currently for COVID-19 is to simply assist the lung function with mechanical ventilation. Unfortunately hospitals are experiencing such huge influx of patients and do not have enough ventilators. This... read more

Respiratory Physiology of Mechanically Ventilated Patients with COVID-19

Respiratory Physiology of Mechanically Ventilated Patients with COVID-19

In this "Breathe Easy Critical Perspective" podcast, Dr. Dominique Pepper interviews Drs. Jehan Alladina and Corey Hardin. They discuss the respiratory physiology of mechanically ventilated patients with COVID-19. Dr.... read more

In the Fight to Treat Coronavirus, Your Lungs Are a Battlefield

In the Fight to Treat Coronavirus, Your Lungs Are a Battlefield

Ventilators have become the single most important piece of medical equipment for critically ill coronavirus patients whose damaged lungs prevent them from getting enough oxygen to vital organs. The machines work by forcing... read more

Supine Body Position As a Risk Factor for Nosocomial Pneumonia in Mechanically Ventilated Patients

Supine Body Position As a Risk Factor for Nosocomial Pneumonia in Mechanically Ventilated Patients

The frequency of clinically suspected nosocomial pneumonia was lower in the semirecumbent group than in the supine group. This was also true for microbiologically confirmed pneumonia. Supine body position were independent... read more

COVID-19 NIV: Helmet vs Mask

COVID-19 NIV: Helmet vs Mask

Over the past few weeks there has been a shift in the management of critically ill COVID-19 patients. Many seem to have moved away from an intubate early strategy to the use of high flow nasal cannula (HFNC) and noninvasive... read more

COVID-19: Two More Trials Just Published on Remdesivir

COVID-19: Two More Trials Just Published on Remdesivir

Currently, there are no approved medications for the treatment of COVID-19, but, there are many investigational agents that have shown antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2 in vitro. Unfortunately in vitro studies do... read more

Predicting NIV Failure in Hypoxemic Patients

Predicting NIV Failure in Hypoxemic Patients

Non-invasive ventilation (NIV) is applied worldwide to patients with hypoxemic respiratory failure. It is often applied as an attempt to avoid invasive mechanical ventilation. However, the application of NIV is often... read more

Management of COVID-19 Respiratory Distress

Management of COVID-19 Respiratory Distress

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) can originate from either the gas or vascular side of the alveolus. Although the portal for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is inhalational, and alveolar infiltrates are commonly... read more