Acute and Critical Care最新文献

Background: Delirium occurs at high rates among patients in intensive care units and increases the risk of morbidity and mortality. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of environmental interventions on delirium.

Methods: This prospective cohort study enrolled 192 patients admitted to the surgical intensive care unit (SICU) during the pre-intervention (June 2013 to October 2013) and post-intervention (June 2014 to October 2014) periods. Environmental interventions involved a cognitive assessment, an orientation, and a comfortable environment including proper sleep conditions. The primary outcomes were the prevalence, duration, and onset of delirium.

Results: There were no statistically significant differences in incidence rate, time of delirium onset, general characteristics, and mortality between the pre-intervention and post-intervention groups. The durations of delirium were 14.4±19.1 and 7.7±7.3 days in the pre-intervention and post-intervention groups, respectively, a significant reduction (P=0.027). The lengths of SICU stay were 20.0±22.9 and 12.6±8.7 days for the pre-intervention and post-intervention groups, respectively, also a significant reduction (P=0.030).

Conclusions: The implementation of an environmental intervention program reduced the duration of delirium and length of stay in the SICU for critically ill surgical patients.

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic disrupted adherences to healthcare-associated infection (HAI) prevention protocols. Herein, we studied the characteristics of all HAIs occurring in critically ill COVID-19 patients.

Methods: A retrospective, single-center cohort of critical COVID-19 patients during 2021. Microbiological samples were collected if HAI was suspected. We analyzed all factors that could potentially induce HAI, using septic shock and mortality as endpoints.

Results: Sixty-four among 161 included patients (39.7%) presented a total of 117 HAIs with an incidence density of 69.2 per 1,000 hospitalization days. Compared to the prior COVID-19 period (2013-2019), the identification of HAI increased in 2021. HAIs were classified into ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP; n=38), bloodstream infection (n=32), urinary tract infection (n=24), catheter-related infection (n=12), and fungal infection (n=11). All HAIs occurred significantly earlier in the post-COVID-19 period (VAP: 6 vs. 10 days, P=0.045, in 2017 and 2021). Acinetobacter baumannii (39.5%) and Klebsiella pneumoniae (27%) were the most commonly isolated pathogens that exhibited a multidrug-resistant (MDR) profile, observed in 89% and 64.5%, respectively. The HAI factors were laboratory abnormalities (odds ratio [OR], 6.4; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.3-26.0), cumulative steroid dose (OR, 1.9; 95% CI, 1.3-4.0), and invasive procedures (OR, 20.7; 95% CI, 5.3-64.0). HAI was an independent factor of mortality (OR, 8.5; P=0.004).

Conclusions: During the COVID-19 era, the incidence of HAIs increased and MDR isolates remained frequent. A severe biological inflammatory syndrome, invasive devices, and elevated cumulative steroid dosages were related to HAIs. HAI was a significant death factor.

Background: Delirium in critically ill children can result in long-term morbidity. Our main objectives were to evaluate the effectiveness of a new protocol on the reduction, prevalence, and duration of delirium and to identify associated risk factors.

Methods: The effectiveness of the protocol was evaluated by a chart review in all critically ill children aged 1 month to 15 years during the study period. A Cornell Assessment of Pediatric Delirium score ≥9 was considered positive for delirium. Data on delirium prevalence and duration from the pre-implementation and post-implementation phases were compared. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to identify the risk factors of delirium.

Results: A total of 120 children was analyzed (58 children in the pre-implementation group and 62 children in the post-implementation group). Fifty children (41.7%) screened positive for delirium. Age less than 2 years, delayed development, use of mechanical ventilation, and pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) stay >7 days were significantly associated with delirium. The proportion of children screened positive was not significantly different after the implementation (before, 39.7% vs. after, 43.5%; P=0.713). Subgroup analyses revealed a significant reduction in the duration of delirium in children with admission diagnosis of cardiovascular problems and after cardiothoracic surgery.

Conclusions: The newly implemented protocol was able to reduce the duration of delirium in children with admission diagnosis of cardiovascular problems and after cardiothoracic surgery. More studies should be conducted to reduce delirium to prevent long-term morbidity after PICU discharge.

Background: Stenotrophomonas maltophilia has been increasingly recognized as an opportunistic pathogen associated with high morbidity and mortality. Data on the prognostic factors associated with S. maltophilia pneumonia in patients admitted to intensive care unit (ICU) are lacking.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of data from 117 patients with S. maltophilia pneumonia admitted to the ICUs of two tertiary referral hospitals in South Korea between January 2011 and December 2022. To assess risk factors associated with in-hospital mortality, multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed.

Results: The median age of the study population was 71 years. Ventilator-associated pneumonia was 76.1% of cases, and the median length of ICU stay before the first isolation of S. maltophilia was 15 days. The overall in-hospital mortality rate was 82.1%, and factors independently associated with mortality were age (odds ratio [OR], 1.05; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.00-1.09; P=0.046), Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score (OR, 1.21; 95%; CI, 1.02-1.43; P=0.025), corticosteroid use (OR, 4.19; 95% CI, 1.26-13.91; P=0.019), and polymicrobial infection (OR, 95% CI 0.07-0.69). However, the impact of appropriate antibiotic therapy on mortality was insignificant. In a subgroup of patients who received appropriate antibiotic therapy (n=58), antibiotic treatment modality-related variables, including combination or empirical therapy, also showed no significant association with survival.

Conclusions: Patients with S. maltophilia pneumonia in ICU have high mortality rates. Older age, higher SOFA score, and corticosteroid use were independently associated with increased in-hospital mortality, whereas polymicrobial infection was associated with lower mortality. The effect of appropriate antibiotic therapy on prognosis was insignificant.

Background: Concerns regarding positive-pressure-ventilation for the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) hypoxemia led the search for alternative oxygenation techniques. This study aimed to assess one such method, dual oxygenation, i.e., the addition of a reservoir mask (RM) on top of a high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC).

Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, the records of all patients hospitalized with COVID-19 during 2020-2022 were reviewed. Patients over the age of 18 years with hypoxemia necessitating HFNC were included. Exclusion criteria were positive-pressure-ventilation for any indication other than hypoxemic respiratory failure, transfer to another facility while still on HFNC and "do-not-intubate/resuscitate" orders. The primary outcome was mortality within 30 days from the first application of HFNC. Secondary outcomes were intubation and admission to the intensive care unit.

Results: Of 659 patients included in the final analysis, 316 were treated with dual oxygenation and 343 with HFNC alone. Propensity for treatment was estimated based on background diagnoses, laboratories and vital signs upon admission, gender and glucocorticoid dose. Inverse probability of treatment weighted regression including age, body mass index, Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score and respiratory rate oxygenation index showed treatment with dual oxygenation to be associated with lower 30-day mortality (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.615; 95% confidence interval, 0.469-0.809). Differences in the secondary outcomes did not reach statistical significance.

Conclusions: Our study suggests that the addition of RM on top of HFNC may be associated with decreased mortality in patients with severe COVID-19 hypoxemia.

Background: Supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) is a common arrhythmia with associated symptoms such as palpitation, dizziness, and fatigue. It significantly affects patients' quality of life (QoL). Radiofrequency cardiac ablation (RFCA) is a highly effective treatment to eliminate arrhythmia and improve patients' QoL. The purpose of this study was to assess the level of QoL among patients with SVT and examine the difference in QoL before and after RFCA.

Methods: One group pre-posttest design with a convenience sample of 112 patients was used. QoL was assessed by 36-Item Short Form (SF-36). Data were collected at admission through face-to-face interviews and 1-month post-discharge through phone interviews.

Results: There was a significant difference between QoL before (33.7±17.0) and 1 month after (62.5±18.5) the RFCA. Post-RFCA patients diagnosed with atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia had higher QoL than other types of SVT. Moreover, there were significant negative relationships between QoL and the number and duration of episodes pre- and post-RFCA. There were no significant differences in QoL based on: age, sex, working status, marital status, smoking, coronary artery disease, diabetes mellitus, and hypertension.

Conclusions: After RFCA, the QoL of patients with ST improved for both physical and mental component subscales.

Background: Hydrocephalus (HCP) is one of the most significant concerns in neurosurgical patients because it can cause increased intracranial pressure (ICP), resulting in mortality and morbidity. To date, machine learning (ML) has been helpful in predicting continuous outcomes. The primary objective of the present study was to identify the factors correlated with ICP, while the secondary objective was to compare the predictive performances among linear, non-linear, and ML regression models for ICP prediction.

Methods: A total of 412 patients with various types of HCP who had undergone ventriculostomy was retrospectively included in the present study, and intraoperative ICP was recorded following ventricular catheter insertion. Several clinical factors and imaging parameters were analyzed for the relationship with ICP by linear correlation. The predictive performance of ICP was compared among linear, non-linear, and ML regression models.

Results: Optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) had a moderately positive correlation with ICP (r=0.530, P<0.001), while several ventricular indexes were not statistically significant in correlation with ICP. For prediction of ICP, random forest (RF) and extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) algorithms had low mean absolute error and root mean square error values and high R2 values compared to linear and non-linear regression when the predictive model included ONSD and ventricular indexes.

Conclusions: The XGBoost and RF algorithms are advantageous for predicting preoperative ICP and establishing prognoses for HCP patients. Furthermore, ML-based prediction could be used as a non-invasive method.

Background: Coronary atherosclerosis is the leading cause of coronary artery disease. Several investigations have indicated that tear-sensitive plaques contain macrophages and T cells. Neopterin is an essential cellular immune response biomarker. The main goal of this study was to see if there were any changes in biomarkers like unconjugated pteridines, neopterin, and biopterin, as well as kynurenine pathway enzymes like indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO), which catalyzes the rate-limiting step in tryptophan degradation, in patients with the acute coronary syndrome (ACS) caused by angiographic atherosclerosis.

Methods: High-performance liquid chromatography was used to determine the amounts of neopterin, biopterin, and creatinine in urine samples, as well as tryptophan and kynurenine in serum samples. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to assess the amounts of neopterin in serum samples. The measured parameters were evaluated between ACS patients and controls.

Results: The measured levels of neopterin, biopterin and the kynurenine to tryptophan ratio reflecting IDO activity, and the specifically known biomarkers such as cardiac troponin, creatine kinase, myoglobin, and natriuretic peptides are statistically higher in ACS patients compared to control subjects. On the other hand, the measured parameters are inadequate to classify the conventional kinds of ACS, ST-elevation- and non-ST-elevation- myocardial infarction.

Conclusions: The study found that determining and using neopterin and IDO parameters as biomarkers in individuals with the ACS can support traditional biomarkers. However, it can be concluded that evaluating pteridine biomarkers solely have no privilege to clinical findings in ACS diagnosis and classification.

Most of the evidences for beneficial effects of beta-blockers in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) were from the clinical studies published in the pre-reperfusion era when anti-platelet drugs, statins or inhibitors of renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system which are known to reduce cardiovascular mortality of patients with AMI were not introduced. In the reperfusion era, beta-blockers' benefit has not been clearly shown except in patients with reduced ejection fraction (EF; ≤40%). In the era of the early reperfusion therapy for AMI, a number of patients with mildly reduced EF (>40%, <50%) or preserved EF (≥50%) become increasing. However, because no randomized clinical trials are available until now, the benefit and the optimal duration of oral treatment with beta-blockers in patients with mildly reduced or preserved EF are questionable. Registry data have not showed the association of oral beta-blocker therapy with decreased mortality in survivors without heart failure or left ventricular systolic dysfunction after AMI. In the Korea Acute Myocardial Infarction Registry-National Institute of Health of in-hospital survivors after AMI, the benefit of beta-blocker therapy at discharge was shown in patients with reduced or mildly reduced EF, but not in those with preserved EF, which provides new information about beta-blocker therapy in patients without reduced EF. However, clinical practice can be changed when the results of appropriate randomized clinical trials are available. Ongoing clinical trials may help to answer the unresolved issues of beta-blocker therapy in patients with AMI.