Practical Requirements for the Development of an Advanced Cardiorenal Unit.

BACKGROUND: Heart failure is frequently associated with kidney disease, and patients with kidney disease are at increased risk of heart failure. The co-occurrence of both entities not only significantly increases morbidity and mortality but also complicates therapy. SUMMARY: Cardiorenal syndrome often requires a broad, comprehensive, and multidisciplinary approach. As a result, a need has arisen to create specialized cardiorenal units that allow for rigorous and personalized management of this condition. Moreover, in some cases, cardiorenal syndrome is more complex, owing to an acute and critical situation that requires the concept of the cardiorenal unit to be extended toward advanced diagnostic and therapeutic positions, thus confirming the need for an advanced cardiorenal unit. The creation of these units constitutes a real challenge, necessitating a specific multilevel action plan, covering governance and management, type of patient, personnel requirements, service portfolio, care process, information systems, and other resources. Specific lines of action must be proposed for each of the relevant points in order to facilitate development of these units, together with continuous evaluation of unit activity through specific indicators, and to detect areas for improvement. KEY MESSAGES: This study addresses the conditions and organizational characteristics that enable the creation, development, and continuous improvement of advanced cardiorenal units.

Systemic inflammatory response and increased risk for ventilator-associated pneumonia: a preliminary study.

OBJECTIVE: Inflammatory markers have been assessed for the diagnosis and follow-up of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), but their potential role in predicting the risk for VAP is unknown. We prospectively assessed the evolution of cytokines in mechanically ventilated patients and their predictive and diagnostic role for VAP. DESIGN: Prospective observational study. SETTING: Medical intensive care unit. PATIENTS: Mechanically ventilated patients. Exclusion criteria were active infection at admission and subsequent extrapulmonary infection. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Sequential measurements of interleukin (IL)-1, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha were done in 44 ventilated patients. VAP was suspected in 20 cases and microbiologically confirmed in nine. At admission, demographics, severity scores, and clinical and standard laboratory values did not discriminate patients with and without VAP, but the median (interquartile range) serum levels of IL-6 were higher in patients who subsequently developed VAP, compared with those without VAP (235 [141-803] vs. 113 [60-170] pg/mL, p = 0.015). The sensitivity and specificity of IL-6 to predict VAP was 71% and 78%, respectively, using 198 pg/mL as optimal cutoff, with relative risk (95% confidence interval) 8.9 (1.4-56.3). When VAP was suspected, serum levels of IL-6 were higher in patients with confirmed compared with nonconfirmed VAP (1131 [496-1987] vs. 236 [115-357] pg/mL, p = 0.016). The sensitivity and specificity to discriminate between confirmed and nonconfirmed VAP was 71% and 89%, respectively, using 620 pg/mL as optimal cutoff, with relative risk (95% confidence interval) 15.0 (1.2-185.2). CONCLUSIONS: IL-6 at admission is an early and accurate indicator of patients at increased risk for VAP. IL-6 is also accurate in discriminating patients with VAP from other causes of pulmonary infiltrates. Extrapolation of these results to the overall population of critically ill patients is limited by the small number of patients.