Non-invasive ventilation for the treatment of acute respiratory failure following ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome: report of two cases and a brief review of the literature.

The ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) is a serious but rarely fatal complication of medical interventions that seek to induce fertility; it is typically encountered in women who undergo controlled ovarian hyperstimulation, but there are very rare patients who have genetic defects who present with OHSS. In recent years, its pathogenesis has been elucidated; this knowledge will decrease the frequency of this syndrome. Clinical signs may include any or all of the following: rapid weight gain, ascites, oliguria, hemoconcentration, leukocytosis, along with intravascular hypovolemia, hyponatremia, and hyperkalemia. If the patient is not diagnosed early, ascites, pleural and more rarely pericardial effusions, severe respiratory failure and ARDS, hypercoagulability with tromboembolism and multiple organ system failure can occur. Due to the increased use of therapeutic strategies for infertility (particularly those using human chorionic gonadotropin), the systemic, particularly the pulmonary, complications of this syndrome must be identified early to allow appropriate diagnosis and management. We describe two cases of women with extremely severe OHSS presenting bilateral pleural effusions, and severe respiratory failure (paO2/FiO2 < 200) treated with non-invasive ventilation (NIV). The severe form of OHSS varies between 0.5% and 5%, depending on the population studied: intensive care may be required for management of tromboembolic complications, renal failure and severe respiratory failure. The diagnosis of severe OHSS was made, largely based on bedside ultrasonography showing increased ovarian size, mild ascites and bilateral pleural effusions. Owing to severe respiratory failure the patients were admitted to Respiratory Intermediate Care. Pulmonary intensive care may involve thoracentesis, oxygen supplementation and in more severe cases assisted ventilation. There are only a few studies in English that describe severe respiratory failure treated with non-invasive ventilation, but all of them have had good outcomes.

Lung abscess due to Streptococcus pneumoniae: a case series and brief review of the literature.

Anaerobes used to be the most common cause of community-acquired lung abscess, and Streptococcus species used to be the second most common cause. In recent years, this has been changing. Klebsiella pneumoniae is now an increasing cause of community- acquired lung abscess, but Streptococcus species continue to be major pathogens. Necrotizing pneumonia has generally been regarded as a rare complication of pneumococcal infection in adults. Type 3 Streptococcus pneumoniae was the single most common type implicated in necrosis; however, many other serotypes were implicated. This entity predominately infects children, but is present also in adults. Lung abscess in adults due to Streptococcus pneumoniae is not common. In this regard we present a case series of pulmonary cavitation due to Streptococcus pneumoniae and discuss the possible pathogenic mechanism of the disease.

Predictors of non-invasive ventilation failure in severe respiratory failure due to community acquired pneumonia.

BACKGROUND: Non-invasive ventilation (NIV) has been used for acute respiratory failure to avoid endotracheal intubation and intensive care admission. Few studies have assessed the usefulness of NIV in patients with severe community acquired pneumonia (CAP). The use of NIV in severe CAP is controversial because there is a greater variability in success compared to other pulmonary conditions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively followed 130 patients with CAP and severe acute respiratory failure (PaO2/FiO2 < 250) admitted to a Respiratory Monitoring Unit (RMU) and underwent NIV. We assessed predictors of NIV failure and hospital mortality using univariate and multivariate analyses. RESULTS: NIV failed in 26 patients (20.0%). Higher chest X-ray score at admission, higher heart rate after 1 hour of NIV, and a higher alveolar-arteriolar gradient (A-aDO2) after 24 hours of NIV each independently predicted NIV failure. Higher chest X ray score, higher LDH at admission, higher heart rate after 24 hours of NIV and higher A-aDO2 after 24 hours of NIV were directly related to hospital mortality. CONCLUSION: NIV treatment had high rate of success. Successful treatment is related to less lung involvement and to early good response to NIV and continuous improvement in clinical response.

Severe Legionella pneumophila pneumonia and non-invasive ventilation: presentation of two cases and brief review of the literature.

Legionella pneumophila is an agent also well known to be frequently responsible for severe community acquired pneumonia. Recent studies regarding severe community-acquired pneumonia have shown that Legionella pneumophila is the second most common cause of admission to ICU, not far behind pneumococcal pneumonia. The mortality of severe Legionella pneumonia is high (30%). We report two cases of severe respiratory failure due to Legionella pneumophila type 1 treated with non-invasive ventilation in the Respiratory Intermediate Care Unit of a Department of Respiratory Medicine with good outcomes. Severe community-acquired pneumonia is the most common cause of ARDS, and it is the primary reason for Intensive Care Unit admission with invasive mechanical ventilation. Delay in ICU admission is probably associated with a poorer outcome. The use of non-invasive ventilation in severe community acquired pneumonia is controversial. However, after recent pandemics, the number of studies reporting good rates of success for NIV has increased. Both our patients were managed in a respiratory intermediate care unit, avoiding invasive ventilation and invasive monitoring, which lowered costs yet was equally effective in providing a good outcome when compared to intubation in the Intensive Care Unit.