Critical care : the official journal of the Critical Care Forum
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Sepsis is a heterogenous syndrome with limited therapeutic options. Identifying immunological endotypes through gene expression patterns in septic patients may lead to targeted interventions. We investigated whether patients admitted to a surgical intensive care unit (ICU) with sepsis and with high risk of mortality express similar endotypes to non-septic, but still critically ill patients using two multiplex transcriptomic metrics obtained both on admission to a surgical ICU and at set intervals. ⋯ Critically ill surgical patients express different and evolving immunological endotypes depending upon both their sepsis status and severity of their clinical course. Future studies will elucidate whether endotyping critically ill, septic patients can identify individuals for targeted therapeutic interventions to improve patient management and outcomes.
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Multicenter Study
Elevated MMP-8 levels, inversely associated with BMI, predict mortality in mechanically ventilated patients: an observational multicenter study.
The present study aimed to investigate the correlation between weight status and mortality in mechanically ventilated patients and explore the potential mediators. ⋯ This study provides evidence for a protective effect of obesity in mechanically ventilated patients and highlights the potential role of MMP-8 level as a biomarker for predicting mortality risk in this population.
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This narrative review explores the physiology and evidence-based management of patients with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and refractory hypoxemia, with a focus on mechanical ventilation, adjunctive therapies, and veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (V-V ECMO). Severe ARDS cases increased dramatically worldwide during the Covid-19 pandemic and carry a high mortality. The mainstay of treatment to improve survival and ventilator-free days is proning, conservative fluid management, and lung protective ventilation. ⋯ In select, refractory cases, the addition of V-V ECMO improves gas exchange and modestly improves survival by allowing for lung rest. In addition to VILI, patients with severe ARDS are at risk for complications including acute cor pulmonale, physical debility, and neurocognitive deficits. Even among the most severe cases, ARDS is a heterogeneous disease, and future studies are needed to identify ARDS subgroups to individualize therapies and advance care.
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To determine if neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation independently predicts 30-day mortality and readmission for patients with sepsis or critical illness after adjusting for individual poverty, demographics, comorbidity burden, access to healthcare, and characteristics of treating healthcare facilities. ⋯ A strong association between neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation and 30-day mortality for critically ill patients is not explained by differences in individual poverty, demographics, measured baseline medical risk, access to healthcare resources, or characteristics of treating hospitals.