0000000000123533
AUTHOR
Cortegiani A.
Withholding or withdrawing of life-sustaining therapy in older adults (≥ 80 years) admitted to the intensive care unit
PURPOSE: To document and analyse the decision to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment (LST) in a population of very old patients admitted to the ICU. METHODS: This prospective study included intensive care patients aged ≥ 80 years in 309 ICUs from 21 European countries with 30-day mortality follow-up. RESULTS: LST limitation was identified in 1356/5021 (27.2%) of patients: 15% had a withholding decision and 12.2% a withdrawal decision (including those with a previous withholding decision). Patients with LST limitation were older, more frail, more severely ill and less frequently electively admitted. Patients with withdrawal of LST were more frequently male and had a longer ICU len…
Sigh in patients with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure and acute respiratory distress syndrome: the PROTECTION pilot randomized clinical trial
Background: Sigh is a cyclic brief recruitment manoeuvre: previous physiological studies showed that its use could be an interesting addition to pressure support ventilation to improve lung elastance, decrease regional heterogeneity and increase release of surfactant. Research question: Is the clinical application of sigh during pressure support ventilation (PSV) feasible? Study design and methods: We conducted a multi-center non-inferiority randomized clinical trial on adult intubated patients with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure or acute respiratory distress syndrome undergoing PSV. Patients were randomized to the No Sigh group and treated by PSV alone, or to the Sigh group, treated b…
Death in hospital following ICU discharge: insights from the LUNG SAFE study
Abstract Background To determine the frequency of, and factors associated with, death in hospital following ICU discharge to the ward. Methods The Large observational study to UNderstand the Global impact of Severe Acute respiratory FailurE study was an international, multicenter, prospective cohort study of patients with severe respiratory failure, conducted across 459 ICUs from 50 countries globally. This study aimed to understand the frequency and factors associated with death in hospital in patients who survived their ICU stay. We examined outcomes in the subpopulation discharged with no limitations of life sustaining treatments (‘treatment limitations’), and the subpopulations with tre…
Cumulative Prognostic Score Predicting Mortality in Patients Older Than 80 Years Admitted to the ICU
OBJECTIVES To develop a scoring system model that predicts mortality within 30 days of admission of patients older than 80 years admitted to intensive care units (ICUs). DESIGN Prospective cohort study. SETTING A total of 306 ICUs from 24 European countries. PARTICIPANTS Older adults admitted to European ICUs (N = 3730; median age = 84 years [interquartile range = 81‐87 y]; 51.8% male). MEASUREMENTS Overall, 24 variables available during ICU admission were included as potential predictive variables. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify independent predictors of 30‐day mortality. Model sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were evaluated with receiver operating characteris…
Correction to: Withholding or withdrawing of life-sustaining therapy in older adults (≥ 80 years) admitted to the intensive care unit (Intensive Care Medicine, (2018), 44, 7, (1027-1038), 10.1007/s00134-018-5196-7)
In the original publication Dr Patrick Meybohm of the Department of Anaesthesiology, Intensive Care Medicine and Pain Therapy, Frankfurt University Hospital, Frankfurt, Germany was inadvertently omitted from the list of investigators.
Medical communications and writing for patients
In this first edition of 2021’s Medical Writing, I am delighted to present a piece from Filippo Vitale and colleagues. This is a truly fascinating article that discusses how we have communicated science and scientific facts throughout history and how changes in societyhave affected how this is done and the outcomes that this has produced. I found this article extremely thought- provoking (and at times a sad reflection of where we have come to as a global society) as the authors document and explain concepts like “clickbait” and “fake news”. Whilst it was truly educational to understand the evolution of these concepts, I totally echo the authors’ call to arms in their plea for us to be more …
Blood Component Therapy and Coagulopathy in Trauma: A Systematic Review of the Literature from the Trauma Update Group
Background Traumatic coagulopathy is thought to increase mortality and its treatment to reduce preventable deaths. However, there is still uncertainty in this field, and available literature results may have been overestimated. Methods We searched the MEDLINE database using the PubMed platform. We formulated four queries investigating the prognostic weight of traumatic coagulopathy defined according to conventional laboratory testing, and the effectiveness in reducing mortality of three different treatments aimed at contrasting coagulopathy (high fresh frozen plasma/packed red blood cells ratios, fibrinogen, and tranexamic acid administration). Randomized controlled trials were selected alo…
Epidemiology of intra-abdominal infection and sepsis in critically ill patients: "AbSeS", a multinational observational cohort study and ESICM Trials Group Project
Pardo-Oviedo, Juan Mauricio/0000-0003-0084-3449; Lopez-Delgado, Juan Carlos/0000-0003-3324-1129; Corradi, Francesco/0000-0002-5588-2608; De Backer, Daniel/0000-0001-9841-5762; POTA, VINCENZO/0000-0001-9999-3388; Tomescu, Dana/0000-0001-9673-5754; Sabetian, Golnar/0000-0001-8764-2150; Girardis, Massimo/0000-0002-2453-0829; Brazzi, Luca/0000-0001-7059-0622; Leone, Marc/0000-0002-3097-758X; Zabolotskikh, Igor Borisovich/0000-0002-3623-2546; De Lange, Dylan/0000-0002-0191-7270; ALMEKHLAFI, GHALEB A./0000-0002-0323-7025; Elke, Gunnar/0000-0002-4948-1605; Grigoras, Ioana/0000-0001-9412-9574; Czuczwar, Miroslaw/0000-0002-9025-6717; Nora, David/0000-0002-1133-7368; Masjedi, Mansoor/0000-0001-6175-9…
Correction to: Procalcitonin levels in candidemia versus bacteremia: a systematic review (Critical care (London, England) (2019) 23 1 (190))
The author wish to note there are three imprecisions in the article [1].
Intraoperative ventilator settings and their association with postoperative pulmonary complications in neurosurgical patients: Post-hoc analysis of LAS VEGAS study
Abstract Background Limited information is available regarding intraoperative ventilator settings and the incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications (PPCs) in patients undergoing neurosurgical procedures. The aim of this post-hoc analysis of the ‘Multicentre Local ASsessment of VEntilatory management during General Anaesthesia for Surgery’ (LAS VEGAS) study was to examine the ventilator settings of patients undergoing neurosurgical procedures, and to explore the association between perioperative variables and the development of PPCs in neurosurgical patients. Methods Post-hoc analysis of LAS VEGAS study, restricted to patients undergoing neurosurgery. Patients were stratified into g…