Early hemodynamic assessment using NICOM in patients at risk of developing Sepsis immediately after emergency department triage

Background

One factor leading to the high mortality rate seen in sepsis is the subtle, dynamic nature of the disease, which can lead to delayed detection and under-resuscitation. This study investigated whether serial hemodynamic parameters obtained from a non-invasive cardiac output monitor (NICOM) predicts disease severity in patients at risk for sepsis.

Methods

Prospective clinical trial of the NICOM device in a convenience sample of adult ED patients at risk for sepsis who did not have obvious organ dysfunction at the time of triage. Hemodynamic data were collected immediately following triage and 2 hours after initial measurement and compared in two outcome groupings: (1) admitted vs. dehydrated, febrile, hypovolemicdischarged patients; (2) infectious vs. non-infectious sources. Receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves were calculated to determine whether the NICOM values predict hospital admission better than a serum lactate.

Results

50 patients were enrolled, 32 (64 %) were admitted to the hospital. Mean age was 49.5 (± 16.5) years and 62 % were female. There were no significant associations between changes in hemodynamic variables and patient disposition from the ED or diagnosis of infection. Lactate was significantly higher in admitted patients and those with infection (p = 0.01, p = 0.01 respectively). The area under the ROC [95 % Confidence Intervals] for lactate was 0.83 [0.64–0.92] compared to 0.59 [0.41–0.73] for cardiac output (CO), 0.68 [0.49–0.80] for cardiac index (CI), and 0.63 [0.36–0.80] for heart rate (HR) for predicting hospital admission.

Conclusions

CO and CI, obtained at two separate time points, do not help with early disease severity differentiation of patients at risk for severe sepsis. Although mean HR was higher in those patients who were admitted, a serum lactate still served as a better predictor of patient admission from the ED.

Potentially Inappropriate Medication Prescriptions for Older Adults with Painful Conditions and Association with Return Emergency Department Visits

OBJECTIVES

To describe the frequency and risk of return visit to the emergency department (ED) by older adults after prescription of any of four potentially inappropriate medication (PIM) classes included in the 2015 Beers Criteria commonly used for the relief of acute pain in the ED.

DESIGN

Retrospective cohort study.

SETTING

Large urban academic ED from January 1, 2013, to December 31, 2015.

PARTICIPANTS

Patients age 65 and older discharged from the ED with an initial pain score of 1 or higher (11 822 visits).

MEASUREMENTS

Prescriptions for PIM classes were collected from the medical record: nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), benzodiazepines, skeletal muscle relaxants, and opioids. The proportion of patients with ED returns within 9 days were compared by medication class and pain severity (mild, moderate, or severe). Multivariable logistic regression was performed for each pain category to determine adjusted odds ratios (aORs) of ED return.

RESULTS

Of 11 822 included patients, PIMs were prescribed in 3392 (28.7%): 2550 (21.6%) opioids, 826 (7.0%) NSAIDs, 277 (2.3%) benzodiazepines, and 68 (0.6%) nonbenzodiazepine skeletal muscle relaxants. Total 9-day ED returns were 1125 (9.5%): mild 7.0%, moderate 8.3%, and severe pain 11.7%. Opioids were not associated with more frequent ED returns for mild or moderate pain, and they were associated with less frequent ED returns for severe pain (9.2% vs 12.7%; p < .001; aOR 0.69; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.54-0.87). Benzodiazepines were associated with more frequent ED returns for patients with moderate pain (15.5% vs 8.2%; p < .01; aOR = 2.01; 95%CI = 1.10-3.70).

CONCLUSIONS

These results are consistent with recommendations to limit benzodiazepine prescriptions for older adults and that among older adults with severe pain, opioid prescribing is associated with less frequent ED visits within 9 days of discharge. However, this study was not designed to evaluate safety, adverse events, or other important patient-centered outcomes. J Am Geriatr Soc 67:719-725, 2019.

Validation of an ICD code for accurately identifying emergency department patients who suffer an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest

AIM

International classification of disease (ICD-9) code 427.5 (cardiac arrest) is utilized to identify cohorts of patients who suffer out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA), though the use of ICD codes for this purpose has never been formally validated. We sought to validate the utility of ICD-9 code 427.5 by identifying patients admitted from the emergency department (ED) after OHCA.

METHODS

Adult visits to a single ED between January 2007 and July 2012 were retrospectively examined and a keyword search of the electronic medical record (EMR) was used to identify patients. Cardiac arrest was confirmed; and ICD-9 information and location of return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) were collected. Separately, the EMR was searched for patients who received ICD-9 code 427.5. The kappa coefficient (κ) was calculated, as was the sensitivity and specificity of the code for identifying OHCA.

RESULTS

The keyword search identified 1717 patients, of which 385 suffered OHCA and 333 were assigned the code 427.5. The agreement between ICD-9 code and cardiac arrest was excellent (κ = 0.895). The ICD-9 code 427.5 was both specific (99.4%) and sensitive (86.5%). Of the 52 cardiac arrests that were not identified by ICD-9 code, 33% had ROSC before arrival to the ED. When searching independently on ICD-9 code, 347 patients with ICD-9 code 427.5 were found, of which 320 were "true" arrests. This yielded a positive predictive value of 92% for ICD-9 code 427.5 in predicting OHCA.

CONCLUSIONS

ICD-9 code 427.5 is sensitive and specific for identifying ED patients who suffer OHCA with a positive predictive value of 92%.

Gag-positive reservoir cells are susceptible to HIV-specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte mediated clearance in vitro and can be detected in vivo [corrected]

Resting CD4+ T cells infected with HIV persist in the presence of suppressive anti-viral therapy (ART) and are barriers to a cure. One potential curative approach, therapeutic vaccination, is fueled by recognition of the ability of a subset of elite controllers (EC) to control virus without therapy due to robust anti-HIV immune responses. Controllers have low levels of integrated HIV DNA and low levels of replication competent virus, suggesting a small reservoir. As our recent data indicates some reservoir cells can produce HIV proteins (termed GPR cells for Gag-positive reservoir cells), we hypothesized that a fraction of HIV-expressing resting CD4+ T cells could be efficiently targeted and cleared in individuals who control HIV via anti-HIV cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL). To test this we examined if superinfected resting CD4+ T cells from EC express HIV Gag without producing infectious virus and the susceptibility of these cells to CTL. We found that resting CD4+ T cells expressed HIV Gag and were cleared by autologous CD8+ T cells from EC. Importantly, we found the extent of CTL clearance in our in vitro assay correlates with in vivo reservoir size and that a population of Gag expressing resting CD4+ T cells exists in vivo in patients well controlled on therapy.