Non-Invasive Ventilation in Children with Paediatric Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome

INTRODUCTION@#Evidence supporting non-invasive ventilation (NIV) in paediatric acute respiratory distress syndrome (PARDS) remains sparse. We aimed to describe characteristics of patients with PARDS supported with NIV and risk factors for NIV failure.@*MATERIALS AND METHODS@#This is a multicentre retrospective study. Only patients supported on NIV with PARDS were included. Data on epidemiology and clinical outcomes were collected. Primary outcome was NIV failure which was defined as escalation to invasive mechanical ventilation within the first 7 days of PARDS. Patients in the NIV success and failure groups were compared.@*RESULTS@#There were 303 patients with PARDS; 53/303 (17.5%) patients were supported with NIV. The median age was 50.7 (interquartile range: 15.7-111.9) months. The Paediatric Logistic Organ Dysfunction score and oxygen saturation/fraction of inspired oxygen (SF) ratio were 2.0 (1.0-10.0) and 155.0 (119.4- 187.3), respectively. Indications for NIV use were increased work of breathing (26/53 [49.1%]) and hypoxia (22/53 [41.5%]). Overall NIV failure rate was 77.4% (41/53). All patients with sepsis who developed PARDS experienced NIV failure. NIV failure was associated with an increased median paediatric intensive care unit stay (15.0 [9.5-26.5] vs 4.5 [3.0-6.8] days; <0.001) and hospital length of stay (26.0 [17.0-39.0] days vs 10.5 [5.5-22.3] days; = 0.004). Overall mortality rate was 32.1% (17/53).@*CONCLUSION@#The use of NIV in children with PARDS was associated with high failure rate. As such, future studies should examine the optimal selection criteria for NIV use in these children.

Performance of the Paediatric Index of Mortality 3 and Paediatric Logistic Organ Dysfunction 2 Scores in Critically Ill Children

<p><b>INTRODUCTION</b>The Paediatric Index of  Mortality 3 (PIM 3) and Paediatric Logistic Organ Dysfunction 2 (PELOD 2) scores were recently revised. We aimed to assess the performance of these scores in a contemporary cohort of critically ill children.</p><p><b>MATERIALS AND METHODS</b>This is a single-centre prospective study conducted in a multidisciplinary paediatric intensive care unit (PICU). Consecutive PICU admissions over 1 year were included and admission PIM 3 and PELOD 2 scores were calculated. The performance of each of the scores was evaluated by calculating the area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) and the Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test for the outcome of PICU mortality.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>A total of  570 patient admissions were eligible for this study. The median age of patients was 3.1 (interquartile range [IQR]: 0.4, 8.9 years). Overall median PIM 3 and PELOD 2 scores were 1.2 (IQR: 0.4, 3.2) % and 4 (IQR: 2, 7), respectively. The overall mortality rate was 35/570 (6.1%). The PIM 3 and PELOD 2 scores had good discrimination for mortality (AUCs 0.88 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.85, 0.91] and 0.86 [95% CI 0.83, 0.89], respectively). Goodness-of-fit was satisfactory for both scores. Higher PIM 3 and PELOD 2 scores were also associated with decreasing ventilator and PICU-free days.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>PIM 3 and PELOD 2 scores are robust severity of illness scores that are generalisable to a contemporary cohort of critically ill children in Singapore.</p>

Characteristics and Risk Factors for Mortality in Paediatric In-Hospital Cardiac Events in Singapore: Retrospective Single Centre Experience

: There is limited data on paediatric resuscitation outcomes in Asia. We aimed to describe outcomes of paediatric in-hospital cardiac arrests (IHCA) and peri-resuscitation factors associated with mortality in our institution.: Using data from our hospital's code registry from 2009 to 2014, we analysed all patients younger than 18 years of age with IHCA who required cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Exposure variables were obtained from clinical demographics, CPR and post-resuscitation data. Outcomes measured were: survival after initial CPR event and survival to hospital discharge. We analysed categorical and continuous variables with Fisher's exact and Wilcoxon rank- sum tests respectively. Statistical significance was taken as<0.05.: We identified 51 patients in the study period. Median age of patients was 1.9 (interquartile range [IQR]: 0.3, 5.5) years. Twenty-six (51%) patients had bradycardia as the first-recorded rhythm. The most common pre-existing medical condition was respiratory-related (n = 25, 48%). Thirty-eight (75%) achieved sustained return of spontaneous circulation, 24 (47%) survived to paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) discharge and 23 (45%) survived to hospital discharge. Risk factors for hospital mortality included: age, duration of CPR, adrenaline, calcium or bicarbonate administration during CPR, Paediatric Index of Mortality (PIM)- II scores, first recorded post-resuscitation pH and hyperglycaemia within 24 hours of resuscitation.: We demonstrated an association between clinical demographics (age, PIM-II scores), CPR variables (duration of CPR and administration of adrenaline, calcium or bicarbonate) and post-resuscitation laboratory results (first recorded pH and hyperglycaemia within 24 hours) with PICU survival. The availability and quality of post- resuscitation care may have implications on survival after paediatric IHCA.

Avoiding dialysis in tumour lysis syndrome: is urate oxidase effective? - a case report and review of literature

<p><b>INTRODUCTION</b>Hyperuricaemia in tumour lysis syndrome (TLS) can cause acute renal failure (ARF), necessitating dialysis. Recombinant urate oxidase (rasburicase) converts uric acid to soluble allantoin, which is excreted easily.</p><p><b>CASE REPORT</b>An 8-year-old boy with stage 3 Burkitt's lymphoma, TLS was successfully treated with hyper-hydration, diuretics and rasburicase, without dialysis. This is the first paediatric case in Kandang Kerbau Women's & Children's Hospital (KKH) in which rasburicase was used. We review the literature on the effectiveness of urate oxidase in avoiding dialysis in TLS.</p><p><b>TREATMENT AND OUTCOME</b>Our patient developed rapidly rising serum uric acid (SUA) and progressive renal impairment. Hyper-hydration and rasburicase (0.2mg/kg) were administered. SUA rapidly decreased from 1308 to 437 mmol/L within 12 hours. Urate oxidase has shown better results than allopurinol. There was a need for dialysis in 0.4% to 1.7% of patients with haematological malignancies given rasburicase, compared to 20% in patients given allopurinol.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Rasburicase can reverse renal insufficiency. Though expensive, it may be cost-effective by lowering incidence of dialysis, shortening the duration of intensive care and hospitalisation, allowing early chemotherapy.</p>