Right ventricular injury in patients with COVID-19-related ARDS eligible for ECMO support: a multicenter retrospective study

BACKGROUND

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-related acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is associated with high mortality. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has been proposed in this setting, but optimal criteria to select target patients remain unknown. Our hypothesis is that evaluation of right ventricular (RV) function could be helpful. The aims of our study were to report the incidence and outcomes of patients eligible for ECMO according to EOLIA criteria, and to identify a subgroup of patients with RV injury, which could be a target for ECMO.

METHODS

Retrospective observational study involving 3 French intensive care units (ICUs) of teaching hospitals. Patients with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection between March 2020 and March 2021, presenting ARDS and with available echocardiography, were included. Patients were classified in three groups according to whether or not they met the EOLIA criteria and the presence of RV injury (RVI) ("EOLIA -", "EOLIA + RVI -" and "EOLIA + RVI + "). RVI was defined by the association of RV to left ventricular end-diastolic area ratio > 0.8 and paradoxical septal motion. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were used to analyze outcome as well as a Cox model for 90 day mortality.

RESULTS

915 patients were hospitalized for COVID-19, 418 of them with ARDS. A total of 283 patients with available echocardiography were included. Eighteen (6.3%) patients received ECMO. After exclusion of these patients, 107 (40.5%) were classified as EOLIA -, 126 (47.5%) as EOLIA + RVI -, and 32 (12%) as EOLIA + RVI + . Ninety-day mortality was 21% in the EOLIA-group, 44% in the EOLIA + RVI-group, and 66% in the EOLIA + RVI + group (p < 0.001). After adjustment, RVI was statistically associated with 90-day mortality (HR = 1.92 [1.10-3.37]).

CONCLUSIONS

Among COVID-19-associated ARDS patients who met the EOLIA criteria, those with significant RV pressure overload had a particularly poor outcome. This subgroup may be a more specific target for ECMO. This represented 12% of our cohort compared to 60% of patients who met the EOLIA criteria only. How the identification of this high-risk subset of patients translates into patient-centered outcomes remains to be evaluated.

Diagnosis and treatment of right ventricular failure secondary to acutely increased right ventricular afterload (acute cor pulmonale): a clinical consensus statement of the Association for Acute CardioVascular Care of the European Society of Cardiology

Acute right ventricular failure secondary to acutely increased right ventricular afterload (acute cor pulmonale) is a life-threatening condition that may arise in different clinical settings. Patients at risk of developing or with manifest acute cor pulmonale usually present with an acute pulmonary disease (e.g. pulmonary embolism, pneumonia, and acute respiratory distress syndrome) and are managed initially in emergency departments and later in intensive care units. According to the clinical setting, other specialties are involved (cardiology, pneumology, internal medicine). As such, coordinated delivery of care is particularly challenging but, as shown during the COVID-19 pandemic, has a major impact on prognosis. A common framework for the management of acute cor pulmonale with inclusion of the perspectives of all involved disciplines is urgently needed.

Ten Influential Point-of-Care Ultrasound Papers: 2023 in Review

In an effort to help keep busy clinicians up to date with the latest ultrasound research, our group of experts has selected 10 influential papers from the past 12 months and provided a short summary of each. We hope to provide emergency physicians, intensivists, and other acute care providers with a succinct update concerning some key areas of ultrasound interest.

Hemodynamic effects of positive end-expiratory pressure

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) is required in the Berlin definition of acute respiratory distress syndrome and is a cornerstone of its treatment. Application of PEEP increases airway pressure and modifies pleural and transpulmonary pressures according to respiratory mechanics, resulting in blood volume alteration into the pulmonary circulation. This can in turn affect right ventricular preload, afterload and function. At the opposite, PEEP may improve left ventricular function, providing no deleterious effect occurs on the right ventricle.

RECENT FINDINGS

This review examines the impact of PEEP on cardiac function with regards to heart-lung interactions, and describes its consequences on organs perfusion and function, including the kidney, gut, liver and the brain. PEEP in itself is not beneficious nor detrimental on end-organ hemodynamics, but its hemodynamic effects vary according to both respiratory mechanics and association with other hemodynamic variables such as central venous or mean arterial pressure. There are parallels in the means of preventing deleterious impact of PEEP on the lungs, heart, kidney, liver and central nervous system.

SUMMARY

The quest for optimal PEEP settings has been a prominent goal in ARDS research for the last decades. Intensive care physician must maintain a high degree of vigilance towards hemodynamic effects of PEEP on cardiac function and end-organs circulation.

High and intermediate risk pulmonary embolism in the ICU

Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a common and important medical emergency, encountered by clinicians across all acute care specialties. PE is a relatively uncommon cause of direct admission to the intensive care unit (ICU), but these patients are at high risk of death. More commonly, patients admitted to ICU develop PE as a complication of an unrelated acute illness. This paper reviews the epidemiology, diagnosis, risk stratification, and particularly the management of PE from a critical care perspective. Issues around prevention, anticoagulation, fibrinolysis, catheter-based techniques, surgical embolectomy, and extracorporeal support are discussed.

Surviving Sepsis Campaign Research Priorities 2023

OBJECTIVES

To identify research priorities in the management, epidemiology, outcome, and pathophysiology of sepsis and septic shock.

DESIGN

Shortly after publication of the most recent Surviving Sepsis Campaign Guidelines, the Surviving Sepsis Research Committee, a multiprofessional group of 16 international experts representing the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine and the Society of Critical Care Medicine, convened virtually and iteratively developed the article and recommendations, which represents an update from the 2018 Surviving Sepsis Campaign Research Priorities.

METHODS

Each task force member submitted five research questions on any sepsis-related subject. Committee members then independently ranked their top three priorities from the list generated. The highest rated clinical and basic science questions were developed into the current article.

RESULTS

A total of 81 questions were submitted. After merging similar questions, there were 34 clinical and ten basic science research questions submitted for voting. The five top clinical priorities were as follows: 1) what is the best strategy for screening and identification of patients with sepsis, and can predictive modeling assist in real-time recognition of sepsis? 2) what causes organ injury and dysfunction in sepsis, how should it be defined, and how can it be detected? 3) how should fluid resuscitation be individualized initially and beyond? 4) what is the best vasopressor approach for treating the different phases of septic shock? and 5) can a personalized/precision medicine approach identify optimal therapies to improve patient outcomes? The five top basic science priorities were as follows: 1) How can we improve animal models so that they more closely resemble sepsis in humans? 2) What outcome variables maximize correlations between human sepsis and animal models and are therefore most appropriate to use in both? 3) How does sepsis affect the brain, and how do sepsis-induced brain alterations contribute to organ dysfunction? How does sepsis affect interactions between neural, endocrine, and immune systems? 4) How does the microbiome affect sepsis pathobiology? 5) How do genetics and epigenetics influence the development of sepsis, the course of sepsis and the response to treatments for sepsis?

CONCLUSIONS

Knowledge advances in multiple clinical domains have been incorporated in progressive iterations of the Surviving Sepsis Campaign guidelines, allowing for evidence-based recommendations for short- and long-term management of sepsis. However, the strength of existing evidence is modest with significant knowledge gaps and mortality from sepsis remains high. The priorities identified represent a roadmap for research in sepsis and septic shock.

Low-flow ECCO2R conjoined with renal replacement therapy platform to manage pulmonary vascular dysfunction with refractory hypercapnia in ARDS

Background

Hypercapnia worsens lung vascular dysfunction during acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). We tested whether an extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal (ECCO2R) device based on a renal replacement therapy platform (Prismalung®) may reduce PaCO2 and alleviate lung vascular dysfunction in ARDS patients with refractory hypercapnia.

Methods

We planned to prospectively include 20 patients with moderate-to-severe ARDS, pulmonary vascular dysfunction on echocardiography, and PaCO2 ≥ 48 mmHg despite instrumental dead space reduction and the increase in respiratory rate. Hemodynamics, echocardiography, respiratory mechanics, and arterial blood gases were recorded at 2 (H2), 6 (H6) and 24 (H24) hours as ECCO2R treatment was continued for at least 24 h.

Results

Only eight patients were included, and the study was stopped due to worldwide shortage of ECCO2R membranes and the pandemic. Only one patient fulfilled the primary endpoint criterion (decrease in PaCO2 of more than 20 %) at H2, but this objective was achieved in half of patients (n = 4) at H6. The percentage of patients with a PaCO2 value < 48 mmHg increased with time, from 0/8 (0 %) at H0, to 3/8 (37.5 %) at H2 and 4/8 (50 %) at H6 (p = 0.04). There was no major change in hemodynamic and echocardiographic variables with ECCO2R, except for a significant decrease in heart rate. ECCO2R was prematurely discontinued before H24 in five (62.5 %) patients, due to membrane clotting in all cases.

Conclusions

This pilot study testing showed a narrow efficacy and high rate of membrane thrombosis with the first version of the system. Improved versions should be tested in future trials.

Trial registration

Registered at clinicaltrials.gov, identifier: NCT03303807, Registered: October 6, 2017, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03303807.

Long-term follow-up of cardiac arrest survivors: Protocol of the DESAC (Devenir des survivants d'Arrets Cardiaques) study, a French multicentric prospective cohort

Background

While the short-term prognosis of cardiac arrest patients - nearly 250,000 new cases per year in Europe - has been extensively studied, less is known regarding the mid and long-term outcome of survivors.

Objective

The aim of the DESAC study is to describe mid- and long-term survival rate and functional status of cardiac arrest survivors, and to assess the influence of pre and intra hospital therapeutic strategies on these two outcomes.

Methods

Between Jul 2015 and Oct 2018, adult patients over 18 years who were discharged alive from any intensive care units (public and private hospitals) in the Ile-de-France area (Paris and suburbs, France) after a non-traumatic cardiac arrest were screened for participation in this multicentric study. Survivors were included after they signed (or the proxies) an informed consent before discharge during initial hospitalisation. We calculated that including 600 patients in total would allow an 80% power to demonstrate a 2 years survival rate difference of 10% between patients who did and those who did not receive therapeutic hypothermia after resuscitation. Pre- and in-hospital data related to the circumstances surrounding the event and to the therapeutic interventions (such as cardio-pulmonary resuscitation, defibrillation, emergent coronary revascularization, neuroprotective therapeutics) were collected. After discharge, patients were interviewed at 3 months, 6 months and every year thereafter for a minimum follow-up of 26 months and a maximum follow-up of 48 months. Information on vital status, occurrence of cardiovascular events, medications and a comprehensive assessment of the functional status (qualitive of life as assessed by the Short-Form General Health Survey (SF36) scale, activities of daily living (ADL) scale, neurological Cerebral Performance Categories (CPC) and Overall Performance Categories (OPC) scales, socio-professional activities) were collected at follow-up interviews.

Discussion

The DESAC study should provide important information regarding several dimensions of the mid and long-term prognosis of cardiac arrest survivors and on the benefit (and potentially harm) of early therapeutic strategies.

Volume responsiveness revisited: an observational multicenter study of continuous versus binary outcomes combining echocardiography and venous return physiology

Echocardiography can assess cardiac preload when fluid administration is used to treat acute circulatory failure. Changes in stroke volume (SV) are inherently a continuous phenomenon relating to the pressure gradient for venous return (VRdP). However, most clinical studies have applied a binary definition based on a fractional change in SV. This study tested the hypothesis that calculating the analog mean systemic filling pressure (Pmsa) and VRdP would enhance echocardiography to describe SV responses to a preload challenge. We investigated 540 (379 males) patients during a standardized passive leg raising (PLR) maneuver. Patients were further categorized by the presence of impaired right ventricular function (impRV) or increased intra-abdominal hypertension (IAH). Multivariable linear regression identified VRdP (partial r = -0.26, P < 0.001), ventilatory-induced variations in superior vena cava diameter (partial r = 0.43, P < 0.001), and left ventricular outflow tract maximum-Doppler velocity (partial r = 0.13, P < 0.001) as independent variables associated with SV changes. The model explained 38% (P < 0.001) of the SV change in the whole cohort and 64% (P < 0.001) when excluding patients with impRV or IAH. The correlation between Pmsa or VRdP and SV changes lost statistical significance with increasing impRV or IAH. A binary definition of volume responsiveness (>10% increase in SV) generated an area under the curve of 0.79 (P < 0.001) in logistic regression but failed to identify Pmsa or VRdP as independent variables and overlooked the confounding influence of impRV and IAH. In conclusion, venous return physiology may enhance echocardiographic assessments of volume responsiveness, which should be based on continuous changes in stroke volume.NEW & NOTEWORTHY The analog mean systemic filling pressure and the pressure gradient for venous return combined with echocardiography predict continuous changes in stroke volume following a passive leg raising maneuver. The confounding effects of impaired right ventricular function and increased intra-abdominal pressure can be identified. Using a binary cutoff for the fractional change in stroke volume, common in previous clinical research, fails to identify the importance of variables relevant to venous return physiology and confounding conditions.

Ventricular interdependence in critically ill patients: from physiology to bedside

The review focuses on the mechanism of ventricular interdependence, a frequently encountered phenomena, especially in critically ill patients. It is explained by the anatomy of the heart, with two ventricles sharing a common wall, the septum, and nested in an acutely inextensible envelope, the pericardium. In pathological situation, it results in abnormal movements of the interventricular septum driven by respiration, leading to abnormal filling of one or the other ventricle. Ventricular interdependence has several clinical applications and explains some situations of hemodynamic impairment, especially in situations of cardiac tamponade, severe acute asthma, right ventricular (RV) overload, or more simply, in case of positive pressure ventilation with underlying acute pulmonary hypertension. Ventricular interdependence can be monitored with pulmonary arterial catheter or echocardiography. Knowledge of this phenomena has very concrete clinical applications in the management of filling or in the prevention or treatment of RV overload.

Echocardiography phenotypes of right ventricular involvement in COVID-19 ARDS patients and ICU mortality: post-hoc (exploratory) analysis of repeated data from the ECHO-COVID study

PURPOSE

Exploratory study to evaluate the association of different phenotypes of right ventricular (RV) involvement and mortality in the intensive care unit (ICU) in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

METHODS

Post-hoc analysis of longitudinal data from the multicenter ECHO-COVID observational study in ICU patients who underwent at least two echocardiography examinations. Echocardiography phenotypes were acute cor pulmonale (ACP, RV cavity dilatation with paradoxical septal motion), RV failure (RVF, RV cavity dilatation and systemic venous congestion), and RV dysfunction (tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion ≤ 16 mm). Accelerated failure time model and multistate model were used for analysis.

RESULTS

Of 281 patients who underwent 948 echocardiography studies during ICU stay, 189 (67%) were found to have at least 1 type of RV involvements during one or several examinations: ACP (105/281, 37.4%), RVF (140/256, 54.7%) and/or RV dysfunction (74/255, 29%). Patients with all examinations displaying ACP had survival time shortened by 0.479 [0.284-0.803] times when compared to patients with all examinations depicting no ACP (P = 0.005). RVF showed a trend towards shortened survival time by a factor of 0.642 [0.405-1.018] (P = 0.059), whereas the impact of RV dysfunction on survival time was inconclusive (P = 0.451). Multistate analysis showed that patients might transit in and out of RV involvement, and those who exhibited ACP in their last critical care echocardiography (CCE) examination had the highest risk of mortality (hazard ratio (HR) 3.25 [2.38-4.45], P < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

RV involvement is prevalent in patients ventilated for COVID-19 ARDS. Different phenotypes of RV involvement might lead to different ICU mortality, with ACP having the worst outcome.

Inhaled nitric oxide in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome caused by COVID-19: treatment modalities, clinical response, and outcomes

BACKGROUND

Inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) has been widely used in patients with COVID-19-related acute respiratory distress syndrome (C-ARDS), though its physiological effects and outcome are debated in this setting. The objective of this cohort study was to describe the modalities of iNO use, clinical response, and outcomes in a large cohort of C-ARDS patients.

METHODS

Multicentre, retrospective cohort study conducted in France.

RESULTS

From end February to December 2020, 300 patients (22.3% female) were included, 84.5% were overweight and 69.0% had at least one comorbidity. At ICU admission, their median (IQR) age, SAPS II, and SOFA score were 66 (57-72) years, 37 (29-48), and 5 (3-8), respectively. Patients were all ventilated according to a protective ventilation strategy, and 68% were prone positioned before iNO initiation. At iNO initiation, 2%, 37%, and 61% of patients had mild, moderate, and severe ARDS, respectively. The median duration of iNO treatment was 2.8 (1.1-5.5) days with a median dosage of 10 (7-13) ppm at initiation. Responders (PaO₂/FiO₂ ratio improving by 20% or more) represented 45.7% of patients at 6 h from iNO initiation. The severity of ARDS was the only predictive factor associated with iNO response. Among all evaluable patients, the crude mortality was not significantly different between responders at 6 h and their counterparts. Of the 62 patients with refractory ARDS (who fulfilled extracorporeal membrane oxygenation criteria before iNO initiation), 32 (51.6%) no longer fulfilled these criteria after 6 h of iNO. The latter showed significantly lower mortality than the other half (who remained ECMO eligible), including after confounder adjustment (adjusted OR: 0.23, 95% CI 0.06, 0.89, p = 0.03).

CONCLUSIONS

Our study reports the benefits of iNO in improving arterial oxygenation in C-ARDS patients. This improvement seems more relevant in the most severe cases. In patients with ECMO criteria, an iNO-driven improvement in gas exchange was associated with better survival. These results must be confirmed in well-designed prospective studies.

Ten Influential Point-of-Care Ultrasound Papers: 2022 in Review

Keeping up with the latest developments in the point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) literature is challenging, as with any area of medicine. Our group of POCUS experts has selected 10 influential papers from the past 12 months and provided a short summary of each. We hope to provide emergency physicians, intensivists, and other acute care providers with a succinct update concerning some key areas of ultrasound interest.

Prognosis of hospitalized adult patients with respiratory syncytial virus infection: a multicenter retrospective cohort study

OBJECTIVES

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a common agent of viral respiratory infections with significant morbidity and mortality in adults. The objective of this study is to determine risk factors for mortality, invasive mechanical ventilation and to describe the characteristics of patients who received ribavirin.

METHODS

Retrospective multicenter observational cohort study conducted in Great Paris area hospitals, including patients hospitalized between January 1, 2015 and December 31, 2019 for documented RSV infection. Data were extracted from the AP-HP Health Data Warehouse. The primary endpoint was in-hospital mortality.

RESULTS

1168 patients were hospitalized for RSV infection, including 288 (24.6%) patients who required ICU admission. The median [interquartile range] age of patients was 75 [63-85] years, 54% (n=631/1168) of them were women. In-hospital mortality was 6.6% (n=77/1168) in the whole cohort and 12.8% (n=37/288) in ICU patients. Factors associated with hospital mortality were age>85 years (adjusted odds ratio (aOR)=6.29 95% confidence interval [2.47-15.98]), acute respiratory failure (aOR=2.83 [1.19-6.72]), non-invasive (aOR=12.60 [1.41-112.36]) and invasive mechanical ventilation support (aOR=30.13 [3.17-286.27]) and neutropenia (aOR=13.19 [3.27-53.27]). Factors associated with invasive mechanical ventilation were chronic heart (aOR=1.98 [1.20-3.26]) or respiratory failure (aOR=2.83 [1.67-4.80]), and co-infection (aOR=2.62 [1.60-4.30]). Patients who were treated with ribavirin were significantly younger than others (62 [55-69] vs 75 [63-86] years; p<0.001), more frequently males (n=34/48 (70.8%) vs n=503/1120 (44.9%); p=0.001), and almost exclusively immunocompromised (n=46/48 (95.8%) vs n=299/1120 (26.7%); p<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

The mortality rate of patients hospitalized with RSV infections was 6.6%. Twenty-five percent of patients required ICU admission.

Epidemiology, clinical presentation, and outcomes of 620 patients with eosinophilia in the intensive care unit

PURPOSE

Although eosinophil-induced manifestations can be life-threatening, studies focusing on the epidemiology and clinical manifestations of eosinophilia in the intensive care unit (ICU) are lacking.

METHODS

A retrospective, national, multicenter (14 centers) cohort study over 6 years of adult patients who presented with eosinophilia ≥ 1 × 10⁹/L on two blood samples performed from the day before admission to the last day of an ICU stay.

RESULTS

620 patients (0.9% of all ICU hospitalizations) were included: 40% with early eosinophilia (within the first 24 h of ICU admission, ICU-Eo1 group) and 56% with delayed (> 24 h after ICU admission, ICU-Eo2 group) eosinophilia. In ICU-Eo1, eosinophilia was mostly due to respiratory (14.9%) and hematological (25.8%) conditions, frequently symptomatic (58.1%, mainly respiratory and cardiovascular manifestations) requiring systemic corticosteroids in 32.2% of cases. In ICU-Eo2, eosinophil-related organ involvement was rare (25%), and eosinophilia was mostly drug-induced (46.8%). Survival rates at day 60 (D60) after ICU admission were 21.4% and 17.2% (p = 0.219) in ICU-Eo1 and ICU-Eo2 patients, respectively. For ICU-Eo1 patients, in multivariate analysis, risk factors for death at D60 were current immunosuppressant therapy at ICU admission, eosinophilia of onco-hematological origin and the use of vasopressors at ICU admission, whereas older age and the use of vasopressors or mechanical ventilation at the onset of eosinophilia were associated with a poorer prognosis for ICU-Eo2 patients.

CONCLUSION

Eosinophilia ≥ 1 × 10⁹/L is not uncommon in the ICU. According to the timing of eosinophilia, two subsets of patients requiring different etiological workups and management can be distinguished.

Agreement between pulse oximetry and arterial oxygen saturation measurement in critical care patients during COVID-19: a cross-sectional study

Some publications suggest that pulse oximetry measurement (SpO₂) might overestimate arterial oxygen saturation (SaO₂) measurement in COVID-19 patients. This study aims to evaluate the agreement between SpO₂ and SaO₂ among COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients. We conducted a multicenter, prospective study including consecutive intensive care patients from October 15, 2020, to March 4, 2021, and compared for each measurement the difference between SpO₂ and SaO₂, also called the systematic bias. The primary endpoint was the agreement between SpO₂ and SaO₂ measured with the Lin concordance coefficient and illustrated using the Bland and Altman method. Factors associated with systematic bias were then identified using a generalised estimating equation. The study included 105 patients, 66 COVID-19 positive and 39 COVID-19 negative, allowing for 1539 measurements. The median age was 66 [57; 72] years with median SOFA and SAPSII scores of, respectively, 4 [3; 6] and 37 [31; 47]. The median SpO₂ and SaO₂ among all measurements was respectively 97 [96-99] and 94 [92-96] with a systematic bias of 0.80 [- 0.6; 2.4]. This difference was, respectively, 0.80 [- 0.7; 2.5] and 0.90 [- 0.3; 2.0] among COVID-19 positive and negative patients. Overall agreement measured with the Lin correlation coefficient was 0.65 [0.63; 0.68] with 0.61 [0.57; 0.64] and 0.53 [0.45; 0.60] among the COVID-19 positive and negative groups, respectively. Factors independently associated with the variation of the SpO₂-SaO₂ difference were the PaO₂/FiO₂ ratio and need for mechanical ventilation. In our population, agreement between SpO₂ and SaO₂ is acceptable. During the COVID-19 pandemic, SaO₂ remains an efficient monitoring tool to characterise the level of hypoxemia and follow therapeutic interventions. As is already known about general intensive care unit patients, the greater hypoxemia, the weaker the correlation between SpO₂ and SaO₂.

Healthcare trajectory of critically ill patients with necrotizing soft tissue infections: a multicenter retrospective cohort study using the clinical data warehouse of Greater Paris University Hospitals

BACKGROUND

Necrotizing skin and soft tissue infections (NSTIs) are rare but serious and rapidly progressive infections characterized by necrosis of subcutaneous tissue, fascia and even muscle. The care pathway of patients with NSTIs is poorly understood. A better characterization of the care trajectory of these patients and a better identification of patients at risk of a complicated evolution, requiring prolonged hospitalization, multiple surgical re-interventions, or readmission to the intensive care unit (ICU), is an essential prerequisite to improve their care. The main objective of this study is to obtain large-scale data on the care pathway of these patients. We performed a retrospective multicenter observational cohort study in 13 Great Paris area hospitals, including patients hospitalized between January 1, 2015 and December 31, 2019 in the ICU for surgically confirmed NSTIs.

RESULTS

170 patients were included. The median duration of stay in ICU and hospital was 8 (3-17) and 37 (14-71) days, respectively. The median time from admission to first surgical debridement was 1 (0-2) day but 69.9% of patients were re-operated with a median of 1 (0-3) additional debridement. Inter-hospital transfer was necessary in 52.4% of patients. 80.2% of patients developed organ failures during the course of ICU stay with 51.8% of patients requiring invasive mechanical ventilation, 77.2% needing vasopressor support and 27.7% renal replacement therapy. In-ICU and in-hospital mortality rates were 21.8% and 28.8%, respectively. There was no significant difference between patients with abdomino-perineal NSTIs (n = 33) and others (n = 137) in terms of in-hospital or ICU mortality. Yet, immunocompromised patients (n = 43) showed significantly higher ICU and in-hospital mortality rates than non-immunocompromised patients (n = 127) (37.2% vs. 16.5%, p = 0.009, and 53.5% vs. 20.5%, p < 0.001). Factors associated with a complicated course were the presence of a polymicrobial infection (adjusted odds ratio [aOR = 3.18 (1.37-7.35); p = 0.007], of a bacteremia [aOR = 3.29 (1.14-9.52); p = 0.028] and a higher SAPS II score [aOR = 1.05 (1.02-1.07); p < 0.0001]. 62.3% of patients were re-hospitalized within 6 months.

CONCLUSION

In this retrospective multicenter study, we showed that patients with NSTI required complex management and are major consumers of care. Two-thirds of them underwent a complicated hospital course, associated with a higher SAPS II score, a polymicrobial NSTI and a bacteremia.

Differential Effect of Targeted Temperature Management Between 32 °C and 36 °C Following Cardiac Arrest According to Initial Severity of Illness: Insights From Two International Data Sets

BACKGROUND

Recent guidelines have emphasized actively avoiding fever to improve outcomes in patients who are comatose following resuscitation from cardiac arrest (ie, out-of-hospital cardiac arrest). However, whether targeted temperature management between 32 °C and 36 °C (TTM32-36) can improve neurologic outcome in some patients remains debated.

RESEARCH QUESTION

Is there an association between the use of TTM32-36 and outcome according to severity assessed at ICU admission using a previously derived risk score?

STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS

Data prospectively collected in the Sudden Death Expertise Center (SDEC) registry (France) between May 2011 and December 2017 and in the Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium Continuous Chest Compressions (ROC-CCC) trial (United States and Canada) between June 2011 and May 2015 were used for this study. Severity at ICU admission was assessed through a modified version of the Cardiac Arrest Hospital Prognosis (mCAHP) score, divided into tertiles of severity. The study explored associations between TTM32-36 and favorable neurologic status at hospital discharge by using multiple logistic regression as well as in tertiles of severity for each data set.

RESULTS

A total of 2,723 patients were analyzed in the SDEC data set and 4,202 patients in the ROC-CCC data set. A favorable neurologic status at hospital discharge occurred in 728 (27%) patients in the French data set and in 1,239 (29%) patients in the North American data set. Among the French data set, TTM32-36 was independently associated with better neurologic outcome in the tertile of patients with low (adjusted OR, 1.63; 95% CI, 1.15-2.30; P = .006) and high (adjusted OR, 1.94; 95% CI, 1.06-3.54; P = .030) severity according to mCAHP at ICU admission. Similar results were observed in the North American data set (adjusted ORs of 1.36 [95% CI, 1.05-1.75; P = .020] and 2.42 [95% CI, 1.38-4.24; P = .002], respectively). No association was observed between TTM32-36 and outcome in the moderate groups of the two data sets.

INTERPRETATION

TTM32-36 was significantly associated with a better outcome in patients with low and high severity at ICU admission assessed according to the mCAHP score. Further studies are needed to evaluate individualized temperature control following out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.