Tocilizumab Use May Be Associated with a Short-term Mortality Benefit

Tocilizumab Use May Be Associated with a Short-term Mortality Benefit

For hospitalized COVID-19 patients, there is some evidence that tocilizumab use may be associated with a short-term mortality benefit, but further high-quality data are required. Its benefits may also lie in reducing the... read more

Severity of Hypoxemia may Explain Indeterminate Results in Pediatric Trials of iNO

Severity of Hypoxemia may Explain Indeterminate Results in Pediatric Trials of iNO

Inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) is used for refractory hypoxemia in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) via vasodilation of pulmonary arterioles to ventilated alveoli, particularly in pediatrics. However, iNO has not affected... read more

Clinical Companion in Nephrology

Clinical Companion in Nephrology

The second edition of this educational book provides an updated resource on how best to discuss and manage acute and chronic presentations of renal diseases. All chapters have been reviewed and updated to reflect changes... read more

COVID-19 Infection Induces Long-lived Bone Marrow Plasma Cells

COVID-19 Infection Induces Long-lived Bone Marrow Plasma Cells

Population scale sweeps of viral pathogens, such as SARS-CoV-2, require high intensity testing for effective management. Here, we describe "Systematic Parallel Analysis of RNA coupled to Sequencing for Covid-19 screening"... read more

Percutaneous Ultrasound Guided Gastrostomy Tube Placement

Percutaneous Ultrasound Guided Gastrostomy Tube Placement

Percutaneous ultrasound guided gastrostomy (PUG) is similar in terms of complications to percutaneous gastrostomy tube (PRG) placement and a safe method for gastrostomy tube placement in the critically ill with the added... read more

Managing Patients With Short-Term Mechanical Circulatory Support

Managing Patients With Short-Term Mechanical Circulatory Support

The use of mechanical circulatory support for patients presenting with cardiogenic shock is rapidly increasing. Currently, there is only limited and conflicting evidence available regarding the role of the Impella (a microaxial,... read more

Pharmacological principles guiding prolonged glucocorticoid treatment in ARDS

Pharmacological principles guiding prolonged glucocorticoid treatment in ARDS

Current literature addressing the pharmacological principles guiding glucocorticoid (GC) administration in ARDS is scant. This paucity of information may have led to the heterogeneity of treatment protocols and misinterpretation... read more

Clinical strategies for implementing lung and diaphragm-protective ventilation

Clinical strategies for implementing lung and diaphragm-protective ventilation

Mechanical ventilation may have adverse effects on both the lung and the diaphragm. Injury to the lung is mediated by excessive mechanical stress and strain, whereas the diaphragm develops atrophy as a consequence of low... read more

Checklist for Early Recognition and Treatment of Acute Illness and Injury

Checklist for Early Recognition and Treatment of Acute Illness and Injury

A quality-improvement intervention with remote simulation training to implement a decision support tool was associated with decreased nonadherence to daily care processes, shorter length of stay, and decreased mortality. The... read more

Randomised controlled trials in pre-hospital trauma

Randomised controlled trials in pre-hospital trauma

This mapping review has highlighted that evidence from trials in prehospital trauma is sparse and where trials have been completed, the reporting is generally poor and study designs sub-optimal. There is a continued need,... read more

Precision Medicine in ARDS

Precision Medicine in ARDS

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a devastating critical illness that can be triggered by a wide range of insults and remains associated with a high mortality of around 40%. The search for targeted treatment for... read more

Sepsis Subclasses: A Framework for Development and Interpretation

Sepsis Subclasses: A Framework for Development and Interpretation

Sepsis is defined as a dysregulated host response to infection that leads to life-threatening acute organ dysfunction. It afflicts approximately 50 million people worldwide annually and is often deadly, even when evidence-based... read more

Increasing the Reproducibility of Research Reduces the Problem of Apophenia

Increasing the Reproducibility of Research Reduces the Problem of Apophenia

Apophenia, or the tendency of identifying meaningful patterns where none truly exist, is part of the human condition. We cannot surmount it, but we can strive to manage its influence. In the research context, apophenia can... read more

COVID-19: Convalescent Plasma vs. Standard Plasma

COVID-19: Convalescent Plasma vs. Standard Plasma

Administration of convalescent plasma to hospitalized patients with coronavirus disease 2019 infection increased antibodies to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus disease 2 but was not associated with improved outcome. Enrollment... read more

Promoting Evidence-Based Practice in ARDS

Promoting Evidence-Based Practice in ARDS

There is a dearth of literature addressing interventions to improve implementation of evidence-based practices in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Existing interventions to improve clinician knowledge and facilitate... read more

Decreased Mortality in ARDS Patients Treated with Corticosteroids

Decreased Mortality in ARDS Patients Treated with Corticosteroids

The use of glucocorticoids might result in reduced mortality in patients with ARDS. Glucocorticoids might be recommended as an adjunct to standard care for ARDS; however, the optimal dose and duration of steroid therapy remains... read more

Clinical Trial of Therapeutics for Severely Ill Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients Begins

Clinical Trial of Therapeutics for Severely Ill Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients Begins

A new Phase 3 trial to test the safety and efficacy of therapeutics for COVID-19 has begun enrolling patients hospitalized with life-threatening cases of COVID-19, including those with acute respiratory failure. The trial... read more