The clinical significance of changes in red blood cell distribution width in patients with community-acquired pneumonia.

OBJECTIVE: Red cell distribution width (RDW) is associated with mortality in patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). However, little is known about the effect of changes in RDW during treatment on mortality. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the association between RDW changes and mortality in hospitalized patients with CAP. METHODS: Retrospective analyses were performed using medical records of patients hospitalized for CAP from April 2008 to February 2014. The abstracted laboratory values included RDW (from days one to four), clinical variables, and pneumonia severity index (PSI) scores. The ΔRDWn-1 was defined as the change in RDW calculated as: (RDWday1-RDWday-n)/RDWday1×100 (%), where 'day n' refers to hospital day. RESULTS: During the study period, a total of 1,069 patients were hospitalized for CAP. The 30-day mortality was 100/1,069 (9.4%). The median RDW at baseline was 14.1% (range, 11.1 to 30.2) and differed significantly between survivors and non-survivors (P<0.05). There were 470 patients with available serial RDW data (30-day mortality 58/470 [12.3%]). Of those, age, PSI score, blood urea nitrogen level, total protein concentration, albumin level, RDW at day 1, and the ΔRDW4-1 differed significantly between survivors and non-survivors. Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that the significance of the relationship between ΔRDW4-1 and 30-day mortality risk remained after adjusting for age, PSI score, RDW at day 1, total protein concentration, and initial albumin level. CONCLUSION: RDW change from day 1 to day 4 was an independent predictor of mortality in patients with CAP.

Prognostication of cardiac arrest survivors using low apparent diffusion coefficient cluster volume.

INTRODUCTION: We developed a new neuroprognostication method for cardiac arrest (CA) using the relative volume of the most dominant cluster of low apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) voxels and tested its performance in a multicenter setting. METHODS: Adult (>15 years) out-of-hospital CA patients from three different facilities who underwent an MRI 12h after resuscitation were retrospectively analyzed. Patients with unknown long-term prognosis or poor baseline neurologic function were excluded. Average ADCs (mean and median), LADCV (relative volume of low-ADC voxels) and DC-LADCV (relative volume of most dominant cluster of low-ADC voxels) were extracted using different thresholds between 400 and 800 × 10(-6) mm(2) s(-1) at 10 × 10(-6) mm(2) s(-1) intervals. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) and sensitivity for poor outcome (6-month cerebral performance category score >2) while maintaining 100% specificity were measured. RESULTS: 110 patients were analyzed. Average ADCs showed fair performance with an AUROC of 0.822 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.744-0.900) for the mean and 0.799 (95% CI, 0.716-0.882) for the median. LADCV showed better performance with a higher AUROC (maximum, 0.925) in an ADC threshold range of 400 to 690 × 10(-6) mm(2) s(-1). DC-LADCV showed the best performance with a higher AUROC (maximum, 0.955) compared with LADCV in an ADC threshold range of 600 to 680 × 10(-6) mm(2) s(-1). DC-LADCV had a high sensitivity for poor outcomes (>80%) in a wide threshold range from 400 to 580 × 10(-6) mm(2) s(-1) with a maximum of 89.2%. CONCLUSIONS: Quantitative analysis using DC-LADCV showed impressive performance in determining the prognosis of out-of-hospital CA patients in a multicenter setting.

Sodium bicarbonate administration during ongoing resuscitation is associated with increased return of spontaneous circulation.

PURPOSE: Sodium bicarbonate is frequently used for patients unresponsive to cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Its use may be associated with longer resuscitation duration as well as more severe metabolic acidosis. We applied a new analytical method based on a matched case-control study design to control for the potential confounders. BASIC PROCEDURES: Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients resuscitated in an emergency department for at least 20 minutes, unless there was any return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) within the time frame, were analyzed. Patients without ROSC for 20 minutes of CPR were matched to those with ROSC based on initial bicarbonate level categorized using cutoff points of 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 mEq/L, and their observation durations were trimmed to match their pairs. The association between sodium bicarbonate and ROSC was examined using conditional logistic regression analysis. MAIN FINDINGS: Two matched groups, one with ROSC and the other without (both n = 258), were generated. Sodium bicarbonate administration and its total cumulative dose were significantly associated with an increased ROSC, with odds ratios for ROSC of 1.86 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.09-3.16; P = .022) and 1.18 (per 20 mEq; 95% CI, 1.04-1.33; P = .008), respectively. The positive associations remained unchanged after multivariable adjustment, with odds ratios for ROSC of 2.49 (95% CI, 1.33-4.65; P = .004) and 1.27 (95% CI, 1.11-1.47; P = .001), respectively. PRINCIPAL CONCLUSION: Sodium bicarbonate administration during CPR in emergency department was associated with increased ROSC.