Journal of critical care
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Journal of critical care · Apr 2024
Letter ReviewHeart involvement: A neglected manifestation of haemophagocytic syndrome associated with high mortality.
Secondary haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (sHLH) proceeds from uncontrolled and inefficient immune activation leading to hyper-inflammation and multi-organ damage. sHLH proceeds from a wide panel of infectious, auto immune and malignant conditions and bears high mortality despite treatment. Literature on sHLH does not mention heart involvement. We sought to describe occurrence of reversible heart dysfunction in the setting of HLH in order to motivate larger prospective studies assessing the causality link between both conditions. ⋯ This leads us to hypothesize that heart involvement confers worse prognosis to HLH. Formal accountability of HLH in the occurrence of cardiac manifestations is difficult to establish given the numerous differential diagnoses but reversibility of myocardial dysfunction in 14 survivors and results of two necropsies supported it. These data, and the current knowledge on the pathophysiology of both HLH and heart failure lead us to suggest that such a link may exist.
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Assessment of the IVC by point-of-care ultrasound in the context of resuscitation has been a controversial topic in the last decades. Most of the focus had been on its use as a surrogate marker for fluid responsiveness, with results being equivocal. We review its important anatomical aspects as well as the physiological rationale behind ultrasound assessment and propose a new way to do so, as well as explain its central role in the concept of fluid tolerance.
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Journal of critical care · Apr 2024
Multicenter StudyDevelopment and validation of a machine learning model to predict the use of renal replacement therapy in 14,374 patients with COVID-19.
To develop a model to predict the use of renal replacement therapy (RRT) in COVID-19 patients. ⋯ An early ML model using easily available clinical and laboratory data accurately predicted the use of RRT in critically ill patients with COVID-19. Our study demonstrates that using ML techniques is feasible to provide early prediction of use of RRT in COVID-19 patients.
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Journal of critical care · Apr 2024
Brain magnetic resonance imaging findings six months after critical COVID-19: A prospective cohort study.
COVID-19 patients suffered from neurological symptoms in the acute phase. Whether this led to long-term consequences was unknown. We studied long-term brain MRI findings in ICU-treated COVID-19 patients and compared them with findings in groups with less severe acute disease. ⋯ Age and supplementary oxygen days were independently associated with CMBs; COVID-19 status showed no association. Accumulation of risk factors in the ICU group may explain the higher prevalence of CMBs.
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Journal of critical care · Apr 2024
Serial electrical impedance tomography course in different treatment groups; The MaastrICCht cohort.
To describe the effect of dexamethasone and tocilizumab on regional lung mechanics over admission in all mechanically ventilated COVID-19 patients. ⋯ Optimal and clinically applied PEEP were lower in the dexamethasone and dexamethasone + tocilizumab groups. The results suggest that the potential beneficial effects of these therapies do not affect lung mechanics favorably. However, this study cannot fully rule out any beneficial effect of anti-inflammatory treatment on pulmonary function due to its observational nature.