Articles

Efficacy of probiotics in the prevention of VAP in critically ill ICU patients: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized control trials

Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is reported as the second most common nosocomial infection among critically ill patients with the incidence ranging from 2 to 16 episodes per 1000 ventilator days. The use...

Authors: Priyam Batra, Kapil Dev Soni and Purva Mathur

Factors influencing liberation from mechanical ventilation in coronavirus disease 2019: multicenter observational study in fifteen Italian ICUs

A large proportion of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) develop severe respiratory failure requiring admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) and about 80% of them need mechanical ventilation...

Authors: Lorenzo Gamberini, Tommaso Tonetti, Savino Spadaro, Gianluca Zani, Carlo Alberto Mazzoli, Chiara Capozzi, Emanuela Giampalma, Maria Letizia Bacchi Reggiani, Elisabetta Bertellini, Andrea Castelli, Irene Cavalli, Davide Colombo, Federico Crimaldi, Federica Damiani, Alberto Fogagnolo, Maurizio Fusari…

Oxygen administration for postoperative surgical patients: a narrative review

Most postoperative surgical patients routinely receive supplemental oxygen therapy to prevent the potential development of hypoxemia due to incomplete lung re-expansion, reduced chest wall, and diaphragmatic a...

Authors: Satoshi Suzuki

Fluid management in ARDS: an evaluation of current practice and the association between early diuretic use and hospital mortality

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and volume overload are associated with increased hospital mortality. Evidence supports conservative fluid management in ARDS, but whether current practice reflects t...

Authors: Kevin P. Seitz, Ellen S. Caldwell and Catherine L. Hough

Prolonged versus intermittent β-lactam antibiotics intravenous infusion strategy in sepsis or septic shock patients: a systematic review with meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis of randomized trials

The prolonged β-lactam infusion strategy has emerged as the standard treatment for sepsis or septic shock despite its unknown efficacy. This study aimed to assess the efficacy of prolonged versus intermittent ...

Authors: Yutaka Kondo, Kohei Ota, Haruki Imura, Naoki Hara and Nobuaki Shime

Linkage of alterations in systemic iron homeostasis to patients’ outcome in sepsis: a prospective study

Sepsis, a dysregulated host response following infection, is associated with massive immune activation and high mortality rates. There is still a need to define further risk factors and laboratory parameters p...

Authors: Anna Brandtner, Piotr Tymoszuk, Manfred Nairz, Georg F. Lehner, Gernot Fritsche, Anja Vales, Andreas Falkner, Harald Schennach, Igor Theurl, Michael Joannidis, Günter Weiss and Christa Pfeifhofer-Obermair

Sex-specific prevalence and outcomes of frailty in critically ill patients

The prevalence of frailty, an important risk factor for short- and long-term outcomes in hospitalized adults, differs by sex. Studies in critically ill adults have also found differences in mortality and organ...

Authors: Erin Hessey, Carmel Montgomery, Danny J. Zuege, Darryl Rolfson, Henry T. Stelfox, Kirsten M. Fiest and Sean M. Bagshaw

The authors’ response

In response to comments raised, we acknowledge the shortcomings of our study. It is a small study. However, it is a pilot study, which is not meant to create generalizable data, rather to explore new potential...

Authors: Ofer Sadan and Owen Samuels

Acute kidney injury after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage: is chloride really responsible?

Sadan et al. find an association between acute kidney injury and high chloride containing a hypertonic solution. Recent large prospective non-randomized studies bring conflicting results on the relationship be...

Authors: Gildas Gueret, Pierre Lefebvre, Pascale Le Maguet and Renaud Fabre

Endothelial glycocalyx shedding in the acute respiratory distress syndrome after flu syndrome

Scientific evidence indicates that endothelial glycocalyx (EG) shedding contributes to the pathophysiological installation of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) after bacterial sepsis. The aim was to e...

Authors: Maira Nilson Benatti, Alexandre Todorovic Fabro and Carlos Henrique Miranda

Perspective on fibrinolytic therapy in COVID-19: the potential of inhalation therapy against suppressed-fibrinolytic-type DIC

A high rate of thrombotic complications, such as pulmonary embolism, has been linked to mortality in COVID-19, and appropriate treatment of thrombosis is important for lifesaving. Although heparin is frequentl...

Authors: Hidesaku Asakura and Haruhiko Ogawa

Thromboembolic disease in COVID-19 patients: A brief narrative review

Corona virus 2 (SARS-CoV2/ Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus 2) infection has emerged as a global health crisis. Incidence of thromboembolic disease is reported to be high in SARS-CoV2 disease and...

Authors: Samhati Mondal, Ashley L. Quintili, Kunal Karamchandani and Somnath Bose

Saline versus 5% dextrose in water as a drug diluent for critically ill patients: a retrospective cohort study

The choice of intravenous infusion products for critically ill patients has been studied extensively because it can affect prognosis. However, there has been little research on drug diluents in this context. T...

Authors: Yukari Aoyagi, Takuo Yoshida, Shigehiko Uchino, Masanori Takinami and Shoichi Uezono

Factors associated with non-invasive mechanical ventilation failure in patients with hematological neoplasia and their association with outcomes

The usefulness of non-invasive mechanical ventilation (NIMV) in oncohematological patients is still a matter of debate.

Authors: Lídia Miranda Barreto, Cecilia Gómez Ravetti, Thiago Bragança Athaíde, Renan Detoffol Bragança, Nathália Costa Pinho, Lucas Vieira Chagas, Fabrício de Lima Bastos and Vandack Nobre

Low levels of CD72 and CD100 expression on circulating lymphocytes in immunosuppressive phase of sepsis is associated with mortality in septic patients

Despite improvements in antimicrobial therapy and supportive care, sepsis is still a major public health issue. Recently, CD100 and its receptor in the immune system CD72 were shown to play a major role in imm...

Authors: Yang Yang, Jiajun Chen, Manli Tang, Chengla Yi, Wei Gao, Xiangjun Bai, Zhanfei Li and Fan Yang

Correction to: Low-chloride- versus high-chloride-containing hypertonic solution for the treatment of subarachnoid hemorrhage–related complications: The ACETatE (A low ChloriE hyperTonic solution for brain Edema) randomized trial

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.

Authors: Ofer Sadan, Kai Singbartl, Jacqueline Kraft, Joao McONeil Plancher, Alexander C. M. Greven, Prem Kandiah, Cederic Pimentel, C. L. Hall, Alexander Papangelou, William H. Asbury, John J. Hanfelt and Owen Samuels

Delay in seeking treatment before emergent heart failure readmission and its association with clinical phenotype

Many patients with emergent heart failure (HF) readmission have a delay between symptom onset and hospitalization. The present study aimed to characterize the interval between symptom onset and hospitalization...

Authors: Makoto Takei, Kazumasa Harada, Yasuyuki Shiraishi, Junya Matsuda, Yoichi Iwasaki, Yoshiya Yamamoto, Kenichi Matsushita, Tetsuro Miyazaki, Takamichi Miyamoto, Kiyosi Iida, Shuzo Tanimoto, Yuji Nagatomo, Toru Hosoda, Shun Kohsaka, Takeshi Yamamoto, Ken Nagao…

Risk factors for complete recovery of adults after weaning from veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for severe acute respiratory failure: an analysis from adult patients in the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization registry

As extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has been widely used, the patient quality of life following ECMO termination has become an important issue as same as the patient’s survival. To date, the factors ...

Authors: Hye Ju Yeo, Yun Seong Kim, Dohyung Kim and Woo Hyun Cho

Effect of renal support therapy on 5-year survival in patients discharged from the intensive care unit

Between 30 and 70% of patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) have acute kidney injury (AKI), and 10% of these patients will require renal replacement therapy (RRT). A significant number of studies ...

Authors: Henry Oliveros and Giancarlo Buitrago

Early steroid pulse therapy among children with influenza virus-associated encephalopathy

Influenza virus-associated encephalopathy (IAE) can lead to neurological sequela and mortality among children. Therefore, instant recognition and therapeutic intervention for IAE are crucial. In some clinical ...

Authors: Takeshi Hatachi, Nobuaki Michihata, Muneyuki Takeuchi, Hiroki Matsui, Kiyohide Fushimi and Hideo Yasunaga

Effects of hypertonic saline versus mannitol in patients with traumatic brain injury in prehospital, emergency department, and intensive care unit settings: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Intracranial pressure control has long been recognized as an important requirement for patients with severe traumatic brain injury. Hypertonic saline has drawn attention as an alternative to mannitol in this s...

Authors: Yukari Miyoshi, Yutaka Kondo, Hidetaka Suzuki, Tatsuma Fukuda, Hideto Yasuda and Shoji Yokobori

Oxygen administration in patients recovering from cardiac arrest: a narrative review

High oxygen tension in blood and/or tissue affects clinical outcomes in several diseases. Thus, the optimal target PaO₂ for patients recovering from cardiac arrest (CA) has been extensively examined. Many patient...

Authors: Ryo Yamamoto and Jo Yoshizawa

Operationalization of critical care triage during a pandemic surge using protocolized communication and integrated supportive care

Triage becomes necessary when demand for intensive care unit (ICU) resources exceeds supply. Without triage, there is a risk that patients will be admitted to the ICU in the sequence that they present, disadva...

Authors: Devanand Anantham, Crystal Chai-Lim, Jamie Xuelian Zhou and Ghee Chee Phua

Extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation without target temperature management for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients prolongs the therapeutic time window: a retrospective analysis of a nationwide multicentre observational study in Japan

Extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR) with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a promising therapy for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) compared with conventional cardiopulmonary r...

Authors: Maki Kitada, Tadashi Kaneko, Shu Yamada, Masahiro Harada and Takeshi Takahashi

The use of automated pupillometry to assess cerebral autoregulation: a retrospective study

Critically ill patients are at high risk of developing neurological complications. Among all the potential aetiologies, brain hypoperfusion has been advocated as one of the potential mechanisms. Impairment of ...

Authors: Armin Quispe Cornejo, Carla Sofía Fernandes Vilarinho, Ilaria Alice Crippa, Lorenzo Peluso, Lorenzo Calabrò, Jean-Louis Vincent, Jacques Creteur and Fabio Silvio Taccone

Histamine-2 receptor antagonists versus proton pump inhibitors for septic shock after lower gastrointestinal tract perforation: a retrospective cohort study using a national inpatient database

Studies have shown the potential benefit of stress ulcer prophylaxis including histamine-2 receptor antagonists (H2RA) and proton pump inhibitors (PPI) in critically ill patients. However, the adverse effects ...

Authors: Jun Suzuki, Yusuke Sasabuchi, Shuji Hatakeyama, Hiroki Matsui, Teppei Sasahara, Yuji Morisawa, Toshiyuki Yamada and Hideo Yasunaga

Author’s response to letter “Antimicrobials administration time in patients with suspected sepsis: faster is better for severe patients”

We are appreciative to Dr. Jouffroy and Pr. Vivien for their responses and insights, and we agree with their words about the controversial aspect timing to antibiotic administration. Nevertheless, we stand fir...

Authors: Johana Ascuntar, Deibie Mendoza and Fabián Jaimes

Prognosis of pathogen-proven acute respiratory distress syndrome diagnosed from a protocol that includes bronchoalveolar lavage: a retrospective observational study

To treat patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), it is important to diagnose specific lung diseases and identify common risk factors. Our facility focuses on using bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL...

Authors: Michihito Kyo, Koji Hosokawa, Shinichiro Ohshimo, Yoshiko Kida, Yuko Tanabe and Nobuaki Shime

The association between low pH value and unfavorable neurological outcome among the out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patient treated by extra-corporeal CPR: sensitivity analysis

This is the response to the comment from Dr. Romain Jouffroy and his colleague, on the manuscript “Association between low pH and unfavorable neurological outcome among out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients ...

Authors: Yohei Okada, Takeyuki Kiguchi, Tetsuhisa Kitamura and Taku Iwami

Antimicrobials administration time in patients with suspected sepsis: faster is better for severe patients

In a recent report, Ascuntar et al. describes the impossibility to demonstrate a significant association between early antibiotic therapy administration and mortality in sepsis patients. Nevertheless, we belie...

Authors: Romain Jouffroy and Benoît Vivien

Effect of oxygenation modalities among patients with postoperative respiratory failure: a pairwise and network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Postoperative respiratory failure is associated with increased perioperative complications. Our aim is to compare outcomes between non-invasive ventilation (NIV), high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC), and standard o...

Authors: Yazan Zayed, Babikir Kheiri, Mahmoud Barbarawi, Laith Rashdan, Inderdeep Gakhal, Esra’a Ismail, Josiane Kerbage, Fatima Rizk, Saadia Shafi, Areeg Bala, Shima Sidahmed, Ghassan Bachuwa and Elfateh Seedahmed

The First Impact Factor - Journal of Intensive Care

Authors: Hiroshi Morisaki

D-dimer as a biomarker for disease severity and mortality in COVID-19 patients: a case control study

Over 5,488,000 cases of coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) have been reported since December 2019. We aim to explore risk factors associated with mortality in COVID-19 patients and assess the use of D-dimer as ...

Authors: Yumeng Yao, Jiatian Cao, Qingqing Wang, Qingfeng Shi, Kai Liu, Zhe Luo, Xiang Chen, Sisi Chen, Kaihuan Yu, Zheyong Huang and Bijie Hu

Reply to the comment by Osuka et al.

Patient transfer between hospitals can be one of the biases when evaluating the hospital performance in severe burn care. Optimal handling of such a population is challenging in the analysis of an inpatient da...

Authors: Akira Endo, Atsushi Shiraishi, Kiyohide Fushimi and Yasuhiro Otomo

Comment on “volume-outcome relationship on survival and cost benefits in severe burn injury: a retrospective analysis of a Japanese nationwide administrative database” (Endo et al., Journal of Intensive Care 2019)

This is a critical comment on the paper by Endo et al. on the volume-outcome relationship on survival and cost benefits in severe burn injury which addresses biases related to patient transfer and burn severit...

Authors: Akinori Osuka, Daiki Miyao and Yuichi Kuroki

Efficacy and safety of tranexamic acid administration in traumatic brain injury patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis

The exacerbation of intracranial bleeding is critical in traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients. Tranexamic acid (TXA) has been used to improve outcomes in TBI patient. However, the effectiveness of TXA treatme...

Authors: Shoji Yokobori, Tomoaki Yatabe, Yutaka Kondo and Kosaku Kinoshita

Development of a nomogram to predict 30-day mortality of patients with sepsis-associated encephalopathy: a retrospective cohort study

Sepsis-associated encephalopathy (SAE) is related to increased short-term mortality in patients with sepsis. We aim to establish a user-friendly nomogram for individual prediction of 30-day risk of mortality i...

Authors: Yang Yang, Shengru Liang, Jie Geng, Qiuhe Wang, Pan Wang, Yuan Cao, Rong Li, Guodong Gao and Lihong Li

Epidemiology of sepsis and septic shock in intensive care units between sepsis-2 and sepsis-3 populations: sepsis prognostication in intensive care unit and emergency room (SPICE-ICU)

Diagnosing sepsis remains difficult because it is not a single disease but a syndrome with various pathogen- and host factor-associated symptoms. Sepsis-3 was established to improve risk stratification among p...

Authors: Toshikazu Abe, Kazuma Yamakawa, Hiroshi Ogura, Shigeki Kushimoto, Daizoh Saitoh, Seitaro Fujishima, Yasuhiro Otomo, Joji Kotani, Yutaka Umemura, Yuichiro Sakamoto, Junichi Sasaki, Yasukazu Shiino, Naoshi Takeyama, Takehiko Tarui, Shin-ichiro Shiraishi, Ryosuke Tsuruta…

Use of glucocorticoids in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome: a meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a common and disabling disease with high rates of mortality and morbidity. The role of steroids in treating ARDS remains controversial. We aim to examine the evide...

Authors: Yazan Zayed, Mahmoud Barbarawi, Esraa Ismail, Varun Samji, Josiane Kerbage, Fatima Rizk, Mohammad Salih, Areeg Bala, Michele Obeid, Smit Deliwala, Sherry Demian, Ibrahim Al-Sanouri and Raju Reddy

Association between low pH and unfavorable neurological outcome among out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients treated by extracorporeal CPR: do not dismiss confounders!

Recently, Okada et al. reported an association between low pH value before the implementation of extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR) and 1-month unfavorable neurological outcome among out-of-ho...

Authors: Romain Jouffroy and Benoît Vivien

Early prediction of high flow nasal cannula therapy outcomes using a modified ROX index incorporating heart rate

The ROX index (ratio of pulse oximetry/FIO₂ to respiratory rate) has been validated to predict high flow nasal cannula therapy (HFNC) outcomes in patients with pneumonia. We evaluated a modified ROX index incorpo...

Authors: Ken Junyang Goh, Hui Zhong Chai, Thun How Ong, Duu Wen Sewa, Ghee Chee Phua and Qiao Li Tan

Save the ICU and save lives during the COVID-19 pandemic

Appropriate critical care delivery for Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a cornerstone in saving lives. Earlier publications worldwide demonstrate higher mortality among patients receiving mechanical vent...

Authors: Nobuaki Shime

Shortening of low-flow duration over time was associated with improved outcomes of extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation in in-hospital cardiac arrest

Quality improvement in the administration of extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR) over time and its association with low-flow duration (LFD) and outcomes of cardiac arrest (CA) have been insuffi...

Authors: Akiko Higashi, Taka-aki Nakada, Taro Imaeda, Ryuzo Abe, Koichiro Shinozaki and Shigeto Oda

Correction to: Nationwide system to centralize decisions around ECMO use for severe COVID-19 pneumonia in Japan (Special Correspondence)

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.

Authors:

Neuromuscular blockade management in the critically Ill patient

Neuromuscular blocking agents (NMBAs) can be an effective modality to address challenges that arise daily in the intensive care unit (ICU). These medications are often used to optimize mechanical ventilation, ...

Authors: J. Ross Renew, Robert Ratzlaff, Vivian Hernandez-Torres, Sorin J. Brull and Richard C. Prielipp

Lymphopenia in severe coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19): systematic review and meta-analysis

Clinical and laboratory biomarkers to predict the severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are essential in this pandemic situation of which resource allocation must be urgently prepared especially in t...

Authors: Ian Huang and Raymond Pranata

The advent of medical artificial intelligence: lessons from the Japanese approach

Artificial intelligence or AI has been heralded as the most transformative technology in healthcare, including critical care medicine. Globally, healthcare specialists and health ministries are being pressured...

Authors: Euma Ishii, Daniel K. Ebner, Satoshi Kimura, Louis Agha-Mir-Salim, Ryo Uchimido and Leo A. Celi

Association between low pH and unfavorable neurological outcome among out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients treated by extracorporeal CPR: a prospective observational cohort study in Japan

We aimed to identify the association of pH value in blood gas assessment with neurological outcome among out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients treated by extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (...

Authors: Yohei Okada, Takeyuki Kiguchi, Taro Irisawa, Kazuhisa Yoshiya, Tomoki Yamada, Koichi Hayakawa, Kazuo Noguchi, Tetsuro Nishimura, Takuya Ishibe, Yoshiki Yagi, Masafumi Kishimoto, Hiroshi Shintani, Yasuyuki Hayashi, Taku Sogabe, Takaya Morooka, Haruko Sakamoto…

Monocyte distribution width enhances early sepsis detection in the emergency department beyond SIRS and qSOFA

The initial presentation of sepsis in the emergency department (ED) is difficult to distinguish from other acute illnesses based upon similar clinical presentations. A new blood parameter, a measurement of inc...

Authors: Elliott D. Crouser, Joseph E. Parrillo, Greg S. Martin, David T. Huang, Pierre Hausfater, Ilya Grigorov, Diana Careaga, Tiffany Osborn, Mohamad Hasan and Liliana Tejidor

Low-chloride- versus high-chloride-containing hypertonic solution for the treatment of subarachnoid hemorrhage–related complications: The ACETatE (A low ChloriE hyperTonic solution for brain Edema) randomized trial

Recent reports have demonstrated that among patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) treated with hypertonic NaCl, resultant hyperchloremia has been associated with the development of acute kidney injury (A...

Authors: Ofer Sadan, Kai Singbartl, Jacqueline Kraft, Joao McONeil Plancher, Alexander C. M. Greven, Prem Kandiah, Cederic Pimentel, C. L. Hall, Alexander Papangelou, William H. Asbury, John J. Hanfelt and Owen Samuels