Will COVID-19 Vaccines Save Lives? Current Trials Aren’t Designed To Tell Us

The world has bet the farm on vaccines as the solution to the pandemic, but the trials are not focused on answering the questions many might assume they are. As phase III trials of covid-19 vaccines reach their target... read more

Effect of Tocilizumab vs. Standard Care on Clinical Worsening in Patients Hospitalized With COVID-19 Pneumonia

Effect of Tocilizumab vs. Standard Care on Clinical Worsening in Patients Hospitalized With COVID-19 Pneumonia

The administration of tocilizumab in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia and a Pao2/Fio2 ratio between 200 and 300 mm Hg did not reduce the risk of clinical worsening. Further blinded, placebo-controlled randomized clinical... read more

Conservative or Liberal Oxygen Therapy in Adults After Cardiac Arrest

Conservative or Liberal Oxygen Therapy in Adults After Cardiac Arrest

Conservative oxygen therapy was associated with a statistically significant reduction in mortality at last follow-up compared to liberal oxygen therapy but the certainty of available evidence was low or very low due to bias,... read more

Effect of Early Activity Combined with Early Nutrition on Acquired Weakness in ICU Patients

Effect of Early Activity Combined with Early Nutrition on Acquired Weakness in ICU Patients

This trial has the potential to identify a novel strategy for preventing or managing ICU-AW. The findings may increase the clinical knowledge about nutrition and mobilization interventions for people with ICU-AW, and contribute... read more

Efficacy and Safety of a Paired Sedation and Ventilator Weaning

Efficacy and Safety of a Paired Sedation and Ventilator Weaning

The purpose of this study is to determine the impact of a new RN/RRT (Registered Nurse/Registered Respiratory Therapist) directed 2-step protocol to wean patients off of a ventilator. This protocol involves daily attempts... read more

Mortality Outcomes with Hydroxychloroquine and Chloroquine in COVID-19

Mortality Outcomes with Hydroxychloroquine and Chloroquine in COVID-19

No benefit of hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine on the survival of COVID-19 patients found. For hydroxychloroquine, the confidence interval is compatible with increased mortality or negligibly reduced mortality. Findings... read more

Dual Therapy Using Sildenafil and Milrinone Superior to Monotherapy in Neonates with Severe PPHN

Dual Therapy Using Sildenafil and Milrinone Superior to Monotherapy in Neonates with Severe PPHN

Dual therapy using sildenafil and milrinone was superior to monotherapy with either drug in neonates with severe persistent pulmonary hypertension (PPHN) and is recommended for use in resource-constrained settings. A double-blind... read more

Thrombotic and Hemorrhagic Complications in Critically Ill Patients with COVID-19

Thrombotic and Hemorrhagic Complications in Critically Ill Patients with COVID-19

Critically ill patients with COVID-19 experience high rates of venous and arterial thrombotic complications. The rates of bleeding may be higher than previously reported and re-iterate the need for randomised trials to better... read more

ECMO During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic

ECMO During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic

In the midst of the 2009 influenza A H1N1 pandemic, clinicians turned to extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) as a strategy to save lives. Based on the H1N1 experience, and the ECMO to Rescue Lung Injury in Severe... read more

Quality of Life of Intensive Care Unit-Acquired Weakness Symptoms in Long-Term Intensive Care Survivors

Quality of Life of Intensive Care Unit-Acquired Weakness Symptoms in Long-Term Intensive Care Survivors

Intensive care unit-acquired weakness (ICUAW) symptoms were disturbingly common in the majority of long-term survivors, indicating that symptoms persist up to 10y and frequently impair QoL. However, only a small number of... read more

From Russia with Love – “Sputnik V” COVID-19 Vaccine Generated an Immune Response

From Russia with Love – “Sputnik V” COVID-19 Vaccine Generated an Immune Response

Between June 18 and Aug 3, 2020, Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation enrolled 76 participants to the two studies (38 in each study). In each study, 9 volunteers received rAd26-S in Phase 1, nine received rAd5-S in... read more

COVID-19: A Critical Analysis of Chloroquine and Hydroxychloroquine Clinical Pharmacology

COVID-19: A Critical Analysis of Chloroquine and Hydroxychloroquine Clinical Pharmacology

Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine have been used for over 60 years in the treatment of malaria, amoebic liver abscess, and several rheumatological conditions, but their clinical pharmacology is not well understood. COVID-19... read more

Hydroxychloroquine With or Without Azithromycin

Hydroxychloroquine With or Without Azithromycin

Among patients hospitalized with mild-to-moderate COVID-19, the use of hydroxychloroquine, alone or with azithromycin, did not improve clinical status at 15 days as compared with standard care. A total of 667 patients... read more

Effect of Hydrocortisone on Mortality and Organ Support in Patients with Severe COVID-19

Effect of Hydrocortisone on Mortality and Organ Support in Patients with Severe COVID-19

Among patients with severe COVID-19, treatment with a 7-day fixed-dose course of hydrocortisone or shock-dependent dosing of hydrocortisone, compared with no hydrocortisone, resulted in 93% and 80% probabilities of superiority... read more

Cardiovascular and Renal Outcomes with Empagliflozin in Heart Failure

Cardiovascular and Renal Outcomes with Empagliflozin in Heart Failure

Among patients receiving recommended therapy for heart failure, those in the empagliflozin group had a lower risk of cardiovascular death or hospitalization for heart failure than those in the placebo group, regardless of... read more

Shorter Resident Shifts May Not Improve Patient Safety

Shorter Resident Shifts May Not Improve Patient Safety

Residents who worked schedules that eliminated extended shifts made a greater number of serious errors than those who worked schedules with shifts of 24 or more hours, a trial in the New England Journal of Medicine reported. The... read more

Awake Prone Positioning for COVID-19 Hypoxemic Respiratory Failure

Awake Prone Positioning for COVID-19 Hypoxemic Respiratory Failure

Infection with SARS-CoV-2 can result in Coronavirus Disease–19 (COVID-19). While the majority of patients are asymptomatic or have mild disease, approximately 14% develop more severe disease including hypoxemic respiratory... read more