Rise of public e-learning opportunities in the context of COVID-19 pandemic-induced curtailment of face-to-face courses, exemplified by epidural catheterization on YouTube.

BACKGROUND: In the context of the coronavirus pandemic, countless face-to-face events as well as medical trainings were cancelled or moved to online courses, which resulted in increased digitalization in many areas. In the context of medical education, videos provide tremendous benefit for visualizing skills before they are practised. METHODS: Based on a previous investigation of video material addressing epidural catheterization available on the YouTube platform, we aimed to investigate new content produced in the context of the pandemic. Thus, a video search was conducted in May 2022. RESULTS: We identified twelve new videos since the pandemic with a significant improvement in the new content in terms of procedural items (p = 0.03) compared to the prepandemic video content. Video content released in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic was more often created by private content creators and were significantly shorter in total runtime than those from university and medical societies (p = 0.04). CONCLUSION: The profound changes in the learning and teaching of health care education in relation to the pandemic are largely unclear. We reveal improved procedural quality of predominantly privately uploaded content despite a shortened runtime compared to the prepandemic period. This might indicate that technical and financial hurdles to producing instructional videos by discipline experts have decreased. In addition to the teaching difficulties caused by the pandemic, this change is likely to be due to validated manuals on how to create such content. The awareness that medical education needs to be improved has grown, so platforms offer specialized sublevels for high-quality medical videos.

Therapy and Outcome of Prolonged Veno-Venous ECMO Therapy of Critically Ill ARDS Patients.

Veno-venous Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (VV-ECMO) therapy has become increasingly used and established in many hospitals as a routine treatment. With ECMO-therapy being a resource-demanding procedure, it is of interest whether a more prolonged VV-ECMO treatment would hold sufficient therapeutic success. Our retrospective study included all VV-ECMO runs from 1 January 2020 to 31 June 2022. We divided all runs into four groups (<14 days, 14-27, 28-49, 50+) of different durations and looked for differences overall in hospital survival. Additionally, corresponding treatments and therapeutic modalities, as well as laboratory results, were analyzed. We included 117 patients. Of those, 97 (82.9%) received a VV-ECMO treatment longer than two weeks. We did not find a significant association between ECMO duration (p = 0.15) and increased mortality though a significant correlation between the patients' age and their probability of survival (p = 0.02). Notably, we found significantly lower interleukin-6 levels with an increase in therapy duration (p < 0.01). Our findings show no association between the duration of ECMO therapy and mortality. Thus, the treatment duration alone may not be used for making assumptions about the prospect of survival. However, attention is also increasingly focused on long-term outcomes, such as post-intensive care syndrome with severe impairments.

Severe COVID-19-associated myocarditis with cardiogenic shock - management with assist devices - a case report & review.

BACKGROUND: Primary viral myocarditis associated with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-Cov2) infection is a rare diagnosis. CASE PRESENTATION: We report the case of an unvaccinated, healthy patient with cardiogenic shock in the context of a COVID-19-associated myocarditis and therapy with simultaneous veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) and percutaneous left ventricular decompression therapy with an Impella. The aim of this review is to provide an overview of therapeutic options for patients with COVID-19-associated myocarditis. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of patients required a combination of two assist devices to achieve sufficient cardiac output until recovery of left ventricular ejection fraction. Due to the rapid onset of this fulminant cardiogenic shock immediate invasive bridging therapy in a specialized center was lifesaving.

Characterization of neonates born to mothers with SARS-CoV-2 infection: Review and meta-analysis.

Characterization of neonates born to mothers with SARS-CoV-2 infection has been partially carried out. There has been no systematic review providing a holistic neonatal presentation including possible vertical transmission. A systematic literature search was performed using PubMed, Google Scholar and Web of Science up to June, 6 2020. Studies on neonates born to mothers with SARS-CoV-2 infection were included. A binary random effect model was used for prevalence and 95% confidence interval. 32 studies involving 261 neonates were included in meta-analysis. Most neonates born to infected mothers did not show any clinical abnormalities (80.4%). Clinical features were dyspnea in 11 (42.3%) and fever in 9 newborns (19.1%). Of 261 neonates, 120 neonates were tested for infection, of whom 12 (10.0%) tested positive. Swabs from placenta, cord blood and vaginal secretion were negative. Neonates are mostly non affected by the mother's SARS-CoV-2 infection. The risk of vertical transmission is low.

Greater Fibrinolysis Resistance but No Greater Platelet Aggregation in Critically Ill COVID-19 Patients.

BACKGROUND: The hemostatic balance in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) seems to be shifted toward a hypercoagulable state. The aim of the current study was to assess the associated coagulation alterations by point-of-care-diagnostics, focusing on details of clot formation and lysis in these severely affected patients. METHODS: The authors' prospective monocentric observational study included critically ill patients diagnosed with COVID-19. Demographics and biochemical data were recorded. To assess the comprehensive hemostatic profile of this patient population, aggregometric (Multiplate) and viscoelastometric (CloPro) measures were performed in the intensive care unit of a university hospital at a single occasion. Coagulation analysis and assessment of coagulation factors were performed. Data were compared to healthy controls. RESULTS: In total, 27 patients (21 male; mean age, 60 yr) were included. Impedance aggregometry displayed no greater platelet aggregability in COVID-19 in comparison with healthy controls (area under the curve [AUC] in adenosine diphosphate test, 68 ± 37 U vs. 91 ± 29 U [-27 (Hodges-Lehmann 95% CI, -48 to -1); P = 0.043]; AUC in arachidonic acid test, 102 ± 54 U vs. 115 ± 26 U [-21 (Hodges-Lehmann 95% CI, -51 to 21); P = 0.374]; AUC in thrombin receptor activating peptide 6 test, 114 ± 61 U vs. 144 ± 31 U [-31 (Hodges-Lehmann 95% CI, -69 to -7); P = 0.113]). Comparing the thromboelastometric results of COVID-19 patients to healthy controls, the authors observed significant differences in maximum clot firmness in fibrin contribution to maximum clot firmness assay (37 ± 11 mm vs. 15 ± 4 mm [21 (Hodges-Lehmann 95% CI, 17 to 26); P < 0.001]) and lysis time in extrinsic activation and activation of fibrinolysis by tissue plasminogen activator assay (530 ± 327 s vs. 211 ± 80 s [238 (Hodges-Lehmann 95% CI, 160 to 326); P < 0.001]). CONCLUSIONS: Thromboelastometry in COVID-19 patients revealed greater fibrinolysis resistance. The authors did not find a greater platelet aggregability based on impedance aggregometric tests. These findings may contribute to our understanding of the hypercoagulable state of critically ill patients with COVID-19.