Advances in the work of multidisciplinary teams for the care of patients with severe uncontrolled asthma. A post-COVID vision (TEAM 2.0 project). / Avances en el trabajo de equipos multidisciplinares para la atención al paciente con asma grave no controlada. Una visión post-COVID (Proyecto TEAM 2.0).

Asthma is a chronic respiratory disease with a high health, social and economic impact, particularly in the case of Severe Uncontrolled Asthma (SUA). For this reason, new strategies are especially necessary to improve its approach, with a personalized approach to each patient and from a multidisciplinary perspective, in addition to integrating the new telemedicine and telepharmacy practices promoted as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this context, the TEAM 2.0 project ("Work in Multidisciplinary Asthma Teams") has been developed, following the TEAM project carried out in 2019, with the aim of updating and prioritizing good multidisciplinary work practices in SUA in a post pandemic context and analyze the progress made. A coordinating group, made up of eight multidisciplinary teams of hospital pharmacists, pulmonologists, and allergists, carried out an updated bibliographic review, sharing of good multidisciplinary practices, and analysis of advances. Through five regional meetings with other experts with experience in SUA, the good practices identified were shared and subjected to debate, evaluation and prioritization. In total, 23 good multidisciplinary work practices in SUA, grouped into five work areas: 1) Organization of work in multidisciplinary teams, 2) Patient education, self-management and adherence, 3) Health results, data monitoring and persistence, 4) Telepharmacy and experiences implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic and 5) Training and research, were evaluated and prioritized by 57 professionals from the field of Hospital Pharmacy, Pulmonology, Allergology and Nursing. This work has made it possible to update the roadmap of priority actions to continue advancing in optimal models of care for patients with AGNC in a post-COVID-19 context.

Incidence of pulmonary embolism in patients with non-invasive respiratory support during COVID-19 outbreak.

While the incidence of thrombotic complications in critically ill patients is very high, in patients under non-invasive respiratory support (NIS) is still unknown. The specific incidence of thrombotic events in each of the clinical scenarios within the broad spectrum of severity of COVID-19, is not clearly established, and this has not allowed the implementation of thromboprophylaxis or anticoagulation for routine care in COVID-19. Patients admitted in a semi-critical unit treated initially with NIS, especially Continuous-Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP), were included in the study. The cumulative incidence of pulmonary embolism was analyzed and compared between patients with good response to NIS and patients with clinical deterioration that required orotracheal intubation. 93 patients were included and 16% required mechanical ventilation (MV) after the NIS. The crude cumulative incidence of the PE was 14% (95%, CI 8-22) for all group. In patients that required orotracheal intubation and MV, the cumulative incidence was significantly higher [33% (95%, CI 16-58)] compared to patients that continued with non-invasive support [11% (CI 5-18)] (Log-Rank, p = 0.013). Patients that required mechanical ventilation were at higher risk of PE for a HR of 4.3 (95%CI 1.2-16). In conclusion, cumulative incidence of PE is remarkably higher in critically patients with a potential impact in COVID-19 evolution. In this context, patients under NIS are a very high-risk group for developing PE without a clear strategy regarding thromboprophylaxis.