Validation of the Modified Determinant-Based Classification for Patients With Acute Pancreatitis in Intensive Care Medicine.

OBJECTIVES: To validate the Modified Determinant-Based Classification (MDBC) system, and compare it with the Revised Atlanta Classification (RAC) and the Determinant-Based Classification (DBC). METHODS: Prospective observational research was conducted in 35 international intensive care units, on patients with acute pancreatitis, and at least 1 organ failure (OF). Patient classification according to the MDBC was as follows: group 1 (transient OF, without local complications [LCs]), group 2 (transient OF and LC), group 3 (persistent OF, without LC), and group 4 (persistent OF and LC). RESULTS: A total of 316 patients were enrolled (mortality of 25.6%). In group 1, patients presented with low mortality (3.31%) and low morbidity (13.68%); in group 2, low mortality (5.26%) and moderate morbidity (55.56%); in group 3, high mortality (32.18%) and moderate morbidity (54.24%); and in group 4, high mortality (53.93%) and high morbidity (97.56%). The area under the receiver operator characteristic curve for mortality was 0.80 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.75-0.84), with significant differences in comparison to RAC (0.76; 95% CI, 0.70-0.80) and DBC (0.79; 95% CI, 0.74-0.83) (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The MDBC identified 4 groups with differentiated clinical evolutions. Its tiered mortality rating provided it with better discriminatory power than the DBC and the RAC.

Detección precoz del paciente que requiere cuidados intensivos / Early detection of the need for intensive care

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Debating Medical Utility, Not Futility: Ethical Dilemmas in Treating Critically Ill People Who Use Injection Drugs.

Physicians who care for critically ill people with opioid use disorder frequently face medical, legal, and ethical questions related to the provision of life-saving medical care. We examine a complex medical case that illustrates these challenges in a person with relapsing injection drug use. We focus on a specific question: Is futility an appropriate and useful standard by which to determine provision of life-saving care to such individuals? If so, how should such determinations be made? If not, what alternative decisionmaking framework exists? We determine that although futility has been historically utilized as a justification for withholding care in certain settings, it is not a useful standard to apply in cases involving people who use injection drugs for non-medical purposes. Instead, we are welladvised to explore each patient's situation in a holistic approach that includes the patient, family members, and care providers in the decision-making process. The scope of the problem illustrated demonstrates the urgent need to definitively improve outcomes in people who use injection drugs. Increasing access to high quality medication-assisted treatment and psychiatric care for individuals with opioid use disorder will help our patients achieve a sustained remission and allow us to reach this goal.

Definition and Classification of Periodic and Rhythmic Patterns.

The growing use of continuous video-EEG recording in the inpatient setting, in particular in patients with varying degrees of encephalopathy, has yielded a window to the brain with an excellent temporal resolution. This increasingly available tool has become more than an instrument to detect nonconvulsive seizures (its primary use), and clinical indications span from ischemia detection in acute brain injuries, neuroprognostication of comatose patients, to monitoring the degree of encephalopathy. In this context, abnormal findings such as periodic discharges and rhythmic delta activity were increasingly recognized; however, significant subjectivity remained in the interpretation of these findings pertaining to key features regarding their spatial involvement, prevalence of occurrence, duration, associated morphologic features, and behavior. In 2005, the American Clinical Neurophysiology Society proposed standardized definitions and classification of electroencephalographic rhythmic and periodic patterns. This was subsequently revised in 2011 and in 2012 and is now being used by centers worldwide, with the final version published in early 2013 as an official guideline of the ACNS. The resulting uniform terminology has allowed for significant advances in the understanding of the pathophysiology, epileptogenic potential, and overall clinical implication of these patterns. Investigators across multiple institutions are now able to collaborate while exploring diagnostic and therapeutic algorithms to these patterns, an effort that may soon provide definitive evidence guiding treating clinicians on the management of these patients.

[Critical care testing: SFBC recommendations in 2018]. / Biologie d'urgence : les recommandations 2018 de la SFBC.

The SFBC Working Group on critical care testing describes in this paper the SFBC recommendations for the determination of maximal turnaround times (TAT) for laboratory medicine examination in emergency conditions. The table presented in a previous paper was updated, taken into account the clinical situations, as well as the emergency response capabilities of the medical laboratory. These new French recommendations must to be based to each local situation in a clinical-biological context between the physicians and the specialist in Lab Medicine.

The Abuse of Futility.

Two recent policy statements by major providers of critical care have rejected the concept and language of "medical futility," on the ground that there is no universal consensus on a definition. They recommend using "potentially inappropriate" or "inappropriate" instead. We argue that their proposed terms are vague-even misleading-in the ICU setting, where serious life-and-death decisions are made. Whatever specific meaning the exclusive world of critical care might wish to give to the word inappropriate, in the lay world the term is so broad it trivializes the activity. We also point out that there is no universal consensus on the definition of death, the right to abortion, or the right to refuse blood products, yet medicine carries on. One advantage of the term "medical futility" is that it confirms unambiguously that human beings are mortal, and medicine's powers are limited. It leads more naturally to integrating palliative and comfort care into critical care decision-making and encourages health providers to think more deeply about their role in the inevitable ending of their patients' lives.

Early parenteral nutrition in enterectomized dogs / Nutrição parenteral precoce em cães submetidos à enterectomia

The aim of this study was to explore the role of early central parenteral nutrition support with and without lipid emulsion in enterectomized dogs undergoing small bowel partial resection. Enterectomized dogs often cannot be fed properly via an oral or enteral route immediately post-surgery. After enterectomy, the animals received parenteral nutrition or crystalloid solution until they were able to voluntarily take in an oral diet. All dogs were recruited at the University of Sao Paulo veterinary teaching hospital. Eighteen dogs with intussusception, a foreign intestinal body, linear foreign intestinal body, or intussusception associated with a foreign intestinal body underwent enterectomy surgery and were randomly assigned to receive one of three treatments: crystalloid solution (CS group), parenteral nutrition with a mix of glucose and amino acids (GA group) or parenteral nutrition with a mix of glucose, amino acids and lipids (GAL group). A serum chemistry panel and complete blood count were collected prior to surgery and at the end of the study. Albumin increased in the GA and GAL group (p=0.042 and p=0.038 respectively) after hospitalization, but no significant differences were identified among the groups. Body weight decreased by 4.9% (p=0.042) in the CS group, but there were no significant changes in the GAL and GA groups. There was a significant decrease in the recovery scores in the GA and GAL groups during hospitalization (p=0.039 in both groups). Early parenteral nutrition was beneficial for patient recovery in post-surgical small bowel partial resection, indicating better quality, and no major complications or side effects were observed during the hospitalization period in the studied dogs.(AU)

O objetivo desse estudo era estudar os efeitos da nutrição parenteral central precoce com e sem emulsão lipídica em cães submetidos à ressecção parcial do intestino delgado. Os cães enterectomizados frequentemente não conseguem ser adequadamente alimentados por via oral ou enteral no pós-cirúrgico imediato. Após a enterectomia, os animais receberam nutrição parenteral ou solução cristaloide até o momento em que fossem capazes de alimentar-se voluntariamente por via oral. Todos os animais foram selecionados no hospital veterinário da Universidade de São Paulo. Dezoito cães diagnosticados com intussuscepção, corpo estranho intestinal, corpo estranho linear ou intussuscepção associada com corpo estranho intestinal foram submetidos à enterectomia e aleatoriamente alocados para receber um dos três tratamentos: solução cristaloide (grupo CS), nutrição parenteral com mistura de glicose e aminoácidos (grupo GA) ou nutrição parental com mistura de glicose e lipídios (grupo GAL). Hemograma e bioquímica sérica foram coletados antes da cirurgia e no final do estudo. Houve aumento de albumina no grupo GA e GAL (p=0,042 e p=0,038 respectivamente) após a hospitalização, mas não houve diferença significativa entre grupos. O peso corpóreo diminuiu cerca de 4,9% (p=0,042) no grupo CS mas não houve alterações significativas no grupo GAL e GA. Houve uma diminuição significativa no escore de recuperação no grupo GA e GAL durante a hospitalização (p=0,039 em ambos os grupos). A nutrição parenteral precoce mostrou-se benéfica para a recuperação no pós-operatório dos cães submetidos à ressecção parcial do intestino delgado, sinalizando uma melhora na qualidade da recuperação e ausência de grandes complicações ou efeitos colaterais durante o período de hospitalização dos animais estudados.(AU)

Critical Patient Severity Classification System predicts outcomes in intensive care unit patients.

BACKGROUND: The CPSCS was developed to assess the nursing care demands of patients in intensive care units (ICUs). AIM: This study aimed to examine the Critical Patient Severity Classification System (CPSCS) score as an independent predictor of patient hospital outcomes. DESIGN: This study was a secondary analysis. METHODS: Data from 6380 cases were extracted from the electronic medical records in ICUs at a tertiary hospital in Korea during 2010-2012. To examine the association of the CPSCS score with 30-day ICU mortality, the Cox proportional hazards model and Kaplan-Meier survival curves were used, and generalized linear regression models of gamma distribution were developed for ICU length of stay (LOS). RESULTS: More patients were admitted to surgical ICUs than medical ICUs (4664 versus 1716) during the study period. Medical ICU patients had longer ICU LOS, higher 30-day ICU mortality and a higher mean CPSCS score than surgical ICU patients. Cox analysis indicated that the mid and high CPSCS score groups had 1·687 and 2·913 times higher mortality risk, respectively, than the low CPSCS score group after adjusting for age, sex and primary diagnosis. The CPSCS score significantly predicted ICU mortality in both medical and surgical ICUs. Multivariate generalized linear regression indicated that CPSCS score was a significant predictor of ICU LOS after adjusting for other covariates. CONCLUSIONS: The CPSCS score can be used to efficiently predict ICU mortality and LOS in patients admitted to the medical and surgical ICUs, although only the high CPSCS score group had significantly high mortality than the low CPSCS score group in the medical ICU. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The findings of this study contribute to valuable evidence that nursing-related factors have an impact on patient outcomes such as ICU mortality and LOS and that they have implications for hospital management, clinical practice and future research.

Subpleural artifact in lung pulse evidenced by M-mode ultrasound in a patient with atelectasis / Artefacto subpleural en pulso pulmonar evidenciado mediante ultrasonidos en modo M en un paciente con atelectasia

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International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification for the Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Physician.

After a patient encounter, the physician uses two coding systems to bill for the service rendered to the patient. The Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) code is used to describe the encounter or procedure. The International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) code is used to describe the diagnosis(es) of the patient. On October 1, 2015, ICD-9-CM coding will end, and all physicians will be required to use a new diagnostic coding system, the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM). This article describes the new diagnostic coding system and how it differs from the old system. There are resources and costs involved for physicians and physician practices to prepare properly for ICD-10-CM. Similar to other important events, the more thorough the preparation, the more likely a positive outcome will occur. Resource use is very important in preparation for the transition from ICD-9-CM to ICD-10-CM. Greater familiarity with ICD-10-CM plus a thorough, effective preparation will lead to reduced costs and a smooth transition. Coding descriptor changes and additional codes occur in ICD-10-CM for chronic bronchitis and emphysema, asthma, and respiratory failure. These changes will affect the coding of these diseases and disorders by physicians. Because the number of codes will increase more than fivefold, the complexity of documentation to support ICD-10-CM will increase substantially. The documentation in the patient's chart to support the ICD-10-CM codes used will need to be enhanced. The requirement for accurate and comprehensive documentation cannot be emphasized enough. All of the coding and documentation changes will be a challenge to pulmonary, critical care, and sleep physicians. They must be prepared fully when ICD-10-CM coding begins and ICD-9-CM coding stops abruptly on October 1, 2015.

Characteristics of nontrauma scene flights for air medical transport.

INTRODUCTION: Little is known about the use of air medical transport for patients with medical, rather than traumatic, emergencies. This study describes the practices of air transport programs, with respect to nontrauma scene responses, in several areas throughout the United States and Canada. METHODS: A descriptive, retrospective study was conducted of all nontrauma scene flights from 2008 and 2009. Flight information and patient demographic data were collected from 5 air transport programs. Descriptive statistics were used to examine indications for transport, Glasgow Coma Scale Scores, and loaded miles traveled. RESULTS: A total of 1,785 nontrauma scene flights were evaluated. The percentage of scene flights contributed by nontraumatic emergencies varied between programs, ranging from 0% to 44.3%. The most common indication for transport was cardiac, nonST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (22.9%). Cardiac arrest was the indication for transport in 2.5% of flights. One air transport program reported a high percentage (49.4) of neurologic, stroke, flights. CONCLUSION: The use of air transport for nontraumatic emergencies varied considerably between various air transport programs and regions. More research is needed to evaluate which nontraumatic emergencies benefit from air transport. National guidelines regarding the use of air transport for nontraumatic emergencies are needed.

[Statement of the Association of Pneumological Clinics and the German Respiratory Society on the coding of invasive and non-invasive ventilation in intensity care]. / Positionspapier des Verbandes pneumologischer Kliniken und der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Pneumologie und Beatmungsmedizin zur Kodierung der invasiven und nicht-invasiven Beatmung bei intensivmedizinisch versorgten Patienten.

Mechanical ventilation in patients with respiratory failure represents one of the most important aspects of intensity care. It can be performed invasively and non-invasively depending on the clinical situation and the underlying disease. The expenditure and consumption of resources is the basis of the compensation for each patient case in the German diagnosis related group system. For ventilated patients it is calculated based on the hours of ventilation, according to the standard coding guideline. In this statement, the German Respiratory Society and the Association of Pneumological Clinics aim to clarify some aspects of the coding of invasive and non-invasive ventilation.

[Development of neurocritical care].

In this review we provide the definition, goals and objectives of neurocritical care, evaluation of brief history of its development. Mechanical ventilation, intracranial hypertension, neuromonitoring as underlying basics of neurocritical care approaches are discussed. The main types of pathology and specific methods used in neurocritical care units are discussed. The results of our own research on brain death--the development of national criteria; for Guillain-Barre syndrome--a double decrease in the length of mechanical ventilation and in 2.5 times of the recovery time for independent walking ability; on diphteric polyneuropathy--reduced by 11 times mortality compared with nation-wide indicators of nontraumatic persistent vegetative state--the development of diagnostic and predictive neurophysiologic criteria are demonstrated. Research data of multiple organ disfunction syndrome in severe stroke are described. Further development of neurocritical care is being discussed.

Perfil dos pacientes de uma unidade de terapia intensiva baseado no TISS 28 / Profile of patients of an intensive care unit based on the TISS 28

Trata-se de uma pesquisa de caráter prospectivo, descritivo, com abordagem quantitativa baseada no TISS 28. Os objetivos do estudo são conhecer os valores do TISS 28 da unidade; identificar os procedimentos diários mais prevalentes realizados pela equipe de enfermagem de acordo com o TISS 28, e discutir a importância da avaliação do perfil dos pacientes de terapia intensiva. A média de permanência de internação foi de 8,8 dias. A classificação dos pacientes permaneceu de III a IV, denotando um perfil de gravidade. Foi apontado um percentual elevado de pacientes que necessitam de serviço especializado e de pessoal treinado.

This is a survey of a prospective, descriptive and quantitative approach based on TISS 28. The objectives of the study are to know the values of TISS 28 unit, to identify the most prevalent daily procedures performed by nursing staff according to TISS 28 and discuss the importance of evaluating the profile of intensive care patients. The average hospitalization time was of 8.8 days of hospitalization. The classification of patients remained III to IV, showing a profile of gravity. It was observed a large percentage of patients who require specialized treatment and trained personnel.

Esta es una investigación con enfoque prospectivo, descriptivo y cuantitativo basado en el TISS 28. Los objetivos del estudio son conocer los valores del TISS 28 de la unidad; identificar los procedimientos diarios de mayor prevalencia realizados por el personal de enfermería según el TISS 28 y discutir la importancia de evaluar el perfil de los pacientes de cuidados intensivos. El promedio de hospitalización fue de 8,8 días de hospitalización. La clasificación de los pacientes permaneció III a IV, lo que muestra un perfil de la gravedad. Fue señalando un gran porcentaje de pacientes que requieren personal especializado y entrenado.

Pápulas calcificadas en los pies / Calcified papules on the feet

Presentamos el caso de una niña con nódulos calcificados subepidérmicos, localizados en los pies desde los 2 meses de edad. No había antecedentes de pinchazos ni traumatismos locales. El examen histopatológico reveló múltiples depósitos basófilos en la dermis superior, inmediatamente por debajo de la epidermis. Estos depósitos estaban rodeados de células gigantes de cuerpo extraño. El nódulo calcificado subepidérmico se clasifica dentro de las calcificaciones subepidérmicas idiopáticas, y generalmente afecta a los niños. La lesión suele localizarse en la cabeza y el cuello, sobre todo en la cara, pero puede aparecer en las extremidades. Son nódulos generalmente solitarios, aunque también pueden ser múltiples. Clínicamente se trata de nódulos bien circunscritos, verrugosos, de color blanco-amarillento o eritematoso. Su patogenia es incierta. El tratamiento de elección es la extirpación quirúrgica (AU)

We report a case of subepidermal calcified nodules (SCNs) localized on a girl's feet since she was two months of age. No previous histories of shots or local trauma were reported. The histopathologic examination showed multiple basophilic deposits in the upper dermis, immediately beneath the epidermis. These deposits were surrounded by foreign body giant cells. The subepidermal calcified nodule is classified under idiopathic subepidermal calcifications, and it commonly affects children. The lesion usually occurs on the head and neck region, mainly on the face, but it can be localized on the extremities. They are usually alone, but multiple lesions can appear. Clinically they are well circunscribe, warty nodules, which can be yellowish-white or erythematous. Their pathogenesis is uncertain. The treatment of choice is believed to be surgical excision (AU)

Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine-Clinical Terms direction and its implications on critical care.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to describe the new advancements in Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine-Clinical Terms (SNOMED-CT) terminology and its applicability to critical care documentation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Narrative review of existing literature published in indexed medical and health informatics journals and of gray literature available on the Internet and personal communication with authors and researchers engaged in SNOMED-CT projects related to critical care are conducted. RESULTS: Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine-Clinical Terms is a system of comprehensive health and clinical terminology that covers most of the needs of health care documentation. It will potentially become the terminology of clinical enterprise and administrative information systems. Despite a ground swell of international support from health information management experts, the terminology remains unknown to most clinicians. We discuss the reasons why clinical familiarity with SNOMED-CT is an important prerequisite to proceeding with local or national electronic health records or clinical information systems. CONCLUSIONS: We propose that SNOMED-CT is suitable for use in critical care; however, work is urgently required to validate the completeness of terminology and to determine clinicians' perceptions on the utility of such a standardized terminology for use in critical care clinical information systems.

[Impact on morbidity and costs of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus nosocomial pneumonia in intensive care patients]. / Effets sur la morbidité et les coûts des pneumopathies nosocomiales àStaphylococcus aureus résistant à la méthicilline en réanimation.

OBJECTIVES: Prevention of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) nosocomial infections in the intensive care units (ICU) has been recommended for several years. However, the workload and the costs of these programs are to be weighed against the benefit obtained in terms of reduction of morbidity and costs induced by the infection. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the cost and the current morbidity of the infection with MRSA in the ICU. METHODS: In a retrospective case-control study carried out in 2004, all patients of the 6 intensive care units of a teaching hospital having developed a MRSA nosocomial infection were included. They were paired with controls on the following criteria: department, Simplified Acute Physiology Score II (SAPSII), age (+/- 5 years), type of surgery (for the surgical intensive care units). The duration of hospitalization of the paired control had to be at least equal to the time from admission to infection of the infected patient. The costs were evaluated using the following parameters: scores omega 1, 2 and 3, duration of artificial ventilation, hemodialysis, length of ICU stay, radiological procedures, surgical procedures, total antibiotic cost and other expensive drugs. RESULTS: Twenty-one patients with MRSA infection were included. All had nosocomial pneumonia. The 21 paired patients were similar with regard to both initial criteria and sex. Hospital mortality was not different between the 2 groups (cases=8; controls=6; p=0.41), as well as median duration of hospital stay (cases=41 days; controls=43 days; p=0.9). The duration of mechanical ventilation, number of hemodialysis or hemofiltration sessions, number of radiological procedures were similar in both groups. The total omega score was not significantly different between cases (median 435; IQR: 218-579) and controls (median 281, IQR: 231-419; p=0.55). The median duration of isolation was 12 days for cases and 0 day for controls (p=0.0007). The pharmaceutical expenditure was significantly higher in cases (median: 1414euro; IQR: 795-4349), by comparison with the controls (median: 877euro, IQR: 687-2496) (p=0.049). CONCLUSION: In the ICU having set up a policy intended to reduce the risk of MRSA nosocomial infections, MRSA pneumonia does not seem to involve major additional morbidity, as compared to a control population matched for similar severity of illness. It increases modestly the use of the medical resources.