Critical care : the official journal of the Critical Care Forum
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Observational Study
Development and internal validation of the multivariable CIPHER (Collaborative Integrated Pregnancy High-dependency Estimate of Risk) clinical risk prediction model.
Intensive care unit (ICU) outcome prediction models, such as Acute Physiology And Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE), were designed in general critical care populations and their use in obstetric populations is contentious. The aim of the CIPHER (Collaborative Integrated Pregnancy High-dependency Estimate of Risk) study was to develop and internally validate a multivariable prognostic model calibrated specifically for pregnant or recently delivered women admitted for critical care. ⋯ The CIPHER model has the potential to be a pragmatic risk prediction tool. CIPHER can identify critically ill pregnant women at highest risk for adverse outcomes, inform counseling of patients about risk, and facilitate bench-marking of outcomes between centers by adjusting for baseline risk.
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Observational Study
Hyperchloremia and postoperative acute kidney injury: a retrospective analysis of data from the surgical intensive care unit.
Whether perioperative hyperchloremia can induce postoperative acute kidney injury (AKI) is controversial. We investigated the association between perioperative hyperchloremia and postoperative AKI in patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) after surgery. ⋯ Exposure to perioperative hyperchloremia is not associated with postoperative AKI in surgical ICU patients. However, in patients with moderate-to-severe chronic kidney disease (stage ≥ 3), a substantial perioperative increase in serum chloride levels may reflect a higher risk of AKI.
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Multicenter Study Observational Study
Multicenter derivation and validation of an early warning score for acute respiratory failure or death in the hospital.
Acute respiratory failure occurs frequently in hospitalized patients and often starts before ICU admission. A risk stratification tool to predict mortality and risk for mechanical ventilation (MV) may allow for earlier evaluation and intervention. We developed and validated an automated electronic health record (EHR)-based model-Accurate Prediction of Prolonged Ventilation (APPROVE)-to identify patients at risk of death or respiratory failure requiring >= 48 h of MV. ⋯ An automated EHR model to identify patients at high risk of MV or death was validated retrospectively and prospectively, and was determined to be feasible for real-time risk identification.
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Given the pathophysiological key role of the host response to an infection rather than the infection per se, an ideal therapeutic strategy would also target this response. This study was designed to demonstrate safety and feasibility of early therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) in severely ill individuals with septic shock. ⋯ Inclusion of early septic shock patients with high doses of vasopressors was feasible and TPE was safe. Rapid hemodynamic improvement and favorable changes in the cytokine profile in patients with septic shock were observed. It has yet to be determined whether early TPE also improves outcomes in this patient cohort. An appropriately powered multicenter randomized controlled trial is desirable.
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The combination of thiamine, ascorbic acid, and hydrocortisone has recently emerged as a potential adjunctive therapy to antibiotics, infectious source control, and supportive care for patients with sepsis and septic shock. In the present manuscript, we provide a comprehensive review of the pathophysiologic basis and supporting research for each element of the thiamine, ascorbic acid, and hydrocortisone drug combination in sepsis. In addition, we describe potential areas of synergy between these therapies and discuss the strengths/weaknesses of the two studies to date which have evaluated the drug combination in patients with severe infection. Finally, we describe the current state of current clinical practice as it relates to the thiamine, ascorbic acid, and hydrocortisone combination and present an overview of the randomized, placebo-controlled, multi-center Ascorbic acid, Corticosteroids, and Thiamine in Sepsis (ACTS) trial and other planned/ongoing randomized clinical trials.