The relationship between body mass index and mortality is not linear in patients requiring venovenous extracorporeal support

OBJECTIVE

Morbid obesity may influence candidacy for venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VVECMO) support. Indeed, body mass index (BMI) >40 is considered to be a relative contraindication due to increased mortality observed in patients with BMI above this value. There is scant evidence to characterize this relationship beyond speculating about the technical challenges of cannulation and difficulty in optimizing flows. We examined a national cohort to evaluate the influence of BMI on mortality in patients requiring VVECMO for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection.

METHODS

We performed a retrospective cohort analysis on National COVID Cohort Collaborative data evaluating 1,033,229 patients with BMI ≤60 from 31 US hospital systems diagnosed with severe acute respiratory syndrome virus coronavirus 2 infection from September 2019 to August 2022. We performed univariate and multivariable mixed-effects logistic regression analysis on data pertaining to those who required VVECMO support during their hospitalization. A subgroup risk-adjusted analysis comparing ECMO mortality in patients with BMI 40 to 60 with the 25th, 50th, and 75th BMI percentile was performed. Outcomes of interest included BMI, age, comorbidity score, body surface area, and ventilation days.

RESULTS

A total of 774 adult patients required VVECMO. Of these, 542 were men, median age was 47 years, mean adjusted Charlson Comorbidity Index was 1, and median BMI was 33. Overall mortality was 47.8%. There was a nonsignificant overall difference in mortality across hospitals (SD, 0.31; 95% CI, 0-0.57). After mixed multivariable logistic regression analysis, advanced age (P < .0001) and Charlson Comorbidity Index (P = .009) were each associated with increased mortality. Neither gender (P = .14) nor duration on mechanical ventilation (P = .39) was associated with increased mortality. An increase in BMI from 25th to 75th percentile was not associated with a difference in mortality (P = .28). In our multivariable mixed-effects logistic regression analysis, there exists a nonlinear relationship between BMI and mortality. Between BMI of 25 and 32, patients experienced an increase in mortality. However, between BMI of 32 and 37, the adjusted mortality in these patients subsequently decreased. Our subgroup analysis comparing BMIs 40 to 60 with the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile of BMI found no significant difference in ECMO mortality between BMI values of 40 and 60 with the 25th, 50th, 75th percentile.

CONCLUSIONS

Advancing age and higher CCI are each associated with increased risk for mortality in patients requiring VVECMO. A nonlinear relationship exists between mortality and BMI and those between 32 and 37 have lower odds of mortality than those between BMI 25 and 32. This nonlinear pattern suggests a need for further adjudication of the contraindications associated with VVECMO, particularly those based solely on BMI.

Early trends in ECMO mortality during the first quarters of 2019 and 2020: Could we have predicted the onset of the pandemic?

OBJECTIVE

To compare mortality trends in patients requiring Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) support between the first quarters of 2019 and 2020 and determine whether these trends might have predicted the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS)-Cov-2 pandemic in the United States.

METHODS

We analyzed 5% Medicare claims data at aggregate, state, hospital, and encounter levels using MS-DRG (Medicare Severity-Diagnosis Related Group) codes for ECMO, combining state-level data with national census data. Necessity and sufficiency relations associated with change in mortality between the 2 years were modeled using qualitative comparative analysis (QCA). Multilevel, generalized linear modeling was used to evaluate mortality trends.

RESULTS

Based on state-level data, there was a 3.36% increase in mortality between 2019 and 2020. Necessity and sufficiency evaluation of aggregate data at state and institutional levels did not identify any association or combinations of risk factors associated with this increase in mortality. However, multilevel and generalized linear models using disaggregated patient-level data to evaluate institution mortality and patient death, identified statistically significant differences between the first (p = .019) and second (p = .02) months of the 2 years, the first and second quarters (p < .001 and p = .042, respectively), and the first 6 months (p < .001) of 2019 and 2020.

CONCLUSION

Mortality in ECMO patients increased significantly during the first quarter of 2020 and may have served as an early warning of the SARS-Cov-2 pandemic. Granular data shared in real-time may be used to better predict public health threats.

Inadvertent Intraoperative Defibrillation Secondary to Electrocautery Grounding Pad Placement

Intraoperative defibrillation secondary to the usage of electrocautery in a patient with a cardiovascular implantable electronic device is a rare occurrence, and below-the-umbilicus electrocautery use causing inadvertent defibrillation is a near-zero risk. Defibrillation secondary to electrodispersive pad (EDP) radiofrequency dispersion has only ever been theorized. In this report, we describe the case of a 67-year-old male with an automatic implantable cardioverter defibrillator (AICD) undergoing a robotic-assisted left anterior total hip arthroplasty for left hip osteoarthritis who experienced inadvertent intraoperative defibrillation concurrent with electrocautery usage. The defibrillations ceased following contralateral EDP repositioning and application of a donut magnet overlying the patient's AICD.

Healthcare Leadership in the COVID-19 Pandemic: From Innovative Preparation to Evolutionary Transformation

Purpose

In pandemics, centralized healthcare leadership is a critical requirement. The objective of this study was to analyze the early development, operation, and effectiveness of a COVID-19 organizational leadership team and transformation of healthcare services at West Virginia University Hospitals and Health System (WVUHS). The analysis focused on how Kotter’s Leading Change eight-stage paradigm could contribute to an understanding of the determinants of successful organizational change in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

The fifteen core leaders of WVUHS COVID-19 strategic system were interviewed. A qualitative thematic analysis of the interviews was used to evaluate key aspects of leadership dynamics and system-wide changes in healthcare policies and protocols to contain the pandemic. Outcome measures included the degree to which WVUHS could handle and contain COVID-19 cases as well as COVID-19 death and vaccination rates in West Virginia compared with other states.

Results

The leadership team radically and rapidly revamped nearly all healthcare policies, procedures, and protocols for WVUHS hospitals and clinics, and launched a Hospital Incident Command System. As a result of this effective leadership team and strategic plan, WVUHS surge capacity was adequate for COVID-19 cases. In addition, West Virginia was an early frontrunner in COVID-19 vaccination rates as well as lower death rates.

Conclusion

WVUHS’s leadership response to the COVID-19 pandemic followed Kotter’s eight-stage paradigm for Leading Change in organizations, including the establishment of a sense of urgency, formation of a powerful guiding coalition, creation of a vision, communication of the vision, empowerment of others to act on the vision, plan for and creation of short-term wins, consolidation of improvements and production of more changes, and institutionalization of new approaches. This approach was effective in limiting the spread and impact of COVID-19 within the hospital network and across the state, with many lessons learned along the way.

Application of the Principles of Biomedical Ethics to the Labor and Delivery Unit During the COVID-19 Pandemic

After its identification as a human pathogen in 2019, the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, has spread rapidly around the world. Health care workers worldwide have had the task of preparing and responding to the pandemic with little evolving data or guidelines. Regarding the protocols for our labor and delivery unit, we focused on applying the four pillars of biomedical ethics-beneficence, nonmaleficence, autonomy, and justice-while considering the women, their fetuses, their significant others and support persons, health care professionals and auxiliary staff, and society as a whole. We also considered the downstream effect of our decisions in labor and delivery on other disciplines of medicine, including pediatrics, anesthesiology, and critical care. This article focuses on how these prima facie principles helped guide our recommendations in this unprecedented time.