Sepsis Protocols to Reduce Mortality in Resource-restricted Settings

Sepsis Protocols to Reduce Mortality in Resource-restricted Settings

Simplified sepsis protocols are essential to improving sepsis-related mortality rates in resource-restricted settings, but adequate training of clinicians and modified protocols are necessary for successful implementation. Six... read more

Lower vs. Higher Oxygenation Targets in ICU Patients with Severe Hypoxemia

Lower vs. Higher Oxygenation Targets in ICU Patients with Severe Hypoxemia

Among adult ICU patients with severe hypoxemia, a lower oxygenation target (8 kPa) did not improve survival or HRQoL at 1 year as compared to a higher oxygenation target (12 kPa). We obtained 1‑year vital status for... read more

Multiple Organ Dysfunction in Older Major Trauma Critical Care Patients

Multiple Organ Dysfunction in Older Major Trauma Critical Care Patients

Frailty rather than chronological age appears to drive multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) development, recovery, and outcome in older cohorts. Early identification of frailty after trauma may help to predict MODS... read more

Tranexamic Acid in Gastrointestinal Bleeding

Tranexamic Acid in Gastrointestinal Bleeding

Extended-use high-dose IV tranexamic acid does not improve mortality or bleeding outcomes and increases adverse events. Low-dose/enteral tranexamic acid may be effective in reducing hemorrhage; more evidence is required to... read more

Pleural Resident Macrophages and Pleural IRA B Cells Promote Immunity Against Pneumonia

Pleural Resident Macrophages and Pleural IRA B Cells Promote Immunity Against Pneumonia

Airway infection is a major cause of mortality worldwide. The identification of new mechanisms aiding in effective host immune response is therefore required. Here, we show that the specific depletion of the pleural immune... read more

ARDS Readmissions: A nationwide Cross-sectional Analysis of Epidemiology

ARDS Readmissions: A nationwide Cross-sectional Analysis of Epidemiology

Thirty-day readmission occurred in 18.4% of patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in this sample, and early readmission is strongly associated with increased mortality compared to late readmission. Further... read more

Association Between Dexamethasone Treatment for COVID-19 Patients and Rates of Hospital Readmission and Mortality

Association Between Dexamethasone Treatment for COVID-19 Patients and Rates of Hospital Readmission and Mortality

Current guidelines recommend use of dexamethasone, 6 mg/d, up to 10 days or until discharge for patients hospitalized with COVID-19. Whether patients who received less than 10 days of corticosteroids during hospitalization... read more

Therapeutic Hyperthermia Associated with Improved Survival in Afebrile Critically Ill Patients with Sepsis

Therapeutic Hyperthermia Associated with Improved Survival in Afebrile Critically Ill Patients with Sepsis

Participants randomized to external forced-air warming did not have a difference in HLA-DR expression or IFN-γ production. In this pilot study, however, 28-day mortality was lower in the intervention group. Future research... read more

Melatonin in ICU Delirium: Shining Light on the Hormone of Darkness

Melatonin in ICU Delirium: Shining Light on the Hormone of Darkness

Delirium represents a form of acute brain dysfunction predictive of excess death and long-term cognitive impairment in critically ill patients. For many years, we have wondered whether pharmacological doses of melatonin would... read more

Balanced Crystalloids Probably Reduce Mortality in the Critically-Ill

Balanced Crystalloids Probably Reduce Mortality in the Critically-Ill

As remarked by the authors of the recent PLUS trial, a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials comparing balanced resuscitation fluid to 0.9% saline was reported in the New England Journal of Medicine... read more

Balanced vs. Unbalanced Fluid in Critically Ill Children

Balanced vs. Unbalanced Fluid in Critically Ill Children

Our systematic review found some evidence of improvement in blood pH and bicarbonate values in critically ill children after 4–12 hours of fluid bolus therapy with balanced fluid compared with the unbalanced fluid. However,... read more

90% of ECMO-eligible COVID-19 Patients Died Amid Rationing

90% of ECMO-eligible COVID-19 Patients Died Amid Rationing

Nearly 90% of adult COVID-19 patients who were eligible for—but didn't receive—extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) during the height of the pandemic died in the hospital owing to a lack of resources, even though... read more

Ascending Aortic Thrombus After COVID-19 Infection

Ascending Aortic Thrombus After COVID-19 Infection

SARS-CoV-2 predisposes patients to both venous and arterial thromboembolism, including ascending aortic thrombus. The current guidelines for anticoagulation recommend three to six months of continuous anticoagulation... read more

Cancer Treatments Not Associated with Inferior COVID-19 Outcomes

Cancer Treatments Not Associated with Inferior COVID-19 Outcomes

The findings of this study of patients with active cancer suggest that recent systemic anticancer treatments (SACTs) is not associated with inferior outcomes from COVID-19 infection. This has relevance for the care of... read more

Ethnic Differences in COVID-19 Mortality in the 2nd and 3rd Waves of the Pandemic in England

Ethnic Differences in COVID-19 Mortality in the 2nd and 3rd Waves of the Pandemic in England

Public health strategies to increase vaccination uptake in ethnic minority groups could reduce disparities in COVID-19 mortality that cannot be accounted for by pre-existing risk factors. Age-adjusted HRs of death involving... read more

Impact of Frailty on Persistent Critical Illness

Impact of Frailty on Persistent Critical Illness

Compared to patients without frailty, those with frailty have a higher chance of developing and dying from Persistent Critical Illness (PerCI). Moreover the importance of frailty as a predictor of mortality increases with... read more

COVID-19 Mortality Prediction Model

COVID-19 Mortality Prediction Model

While there have been extensive analyses characterizing cellular and humoral responses across the severity spectrum in COVID-19, predictors of outcomes within severe COVID-19 remain to be comprehensively elucidated. Recently,... read more