Resuscitation
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The guidelines for Advanced Life Support issued by the European Resuscitation Council recommend considering drug delivery through intraosseous access if intravenous access to the vascular bed is not feasible or unsuccessful. Emergency prehospital intraosseous cannulation may theoretically lead to an increased risk of long-term complications such as osteomyelitis, osteonecrosis, or compartment syndrome. Such complications have previously been reported in case reports or small sample case series. We systematically investigated long-term complications potentially associated with intraosseous cannulation using validated Danish health registries. ⋯ Long-term complications such as osteomyelitis, osteonecrosis, or compartment syndrome following prehospital intraosseous cannulation and drug delivery occurred in less than 0.1% of the cases. Our findings indicate that prehospital intraosseous cannulation may be safe across age groups.
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We studied the promising Alzheimer biomarker plasma tau phosphorylated at threonine 231 (p-tau231) in a cohort of cardiac arrest patients who survived to intensive care to predict long-term neurological outcomes. We also compared it to total tau (t-tau), which has demonstrated predictive abilities of neurological outcome post-cardiac arrest. ⋯ Although p-tau231 showed moderate neurological prognostic ability, t-tau was a stronger predictor, particularly at 48 h, even after adjusting for clinical covariates.
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Meta Analysis
Drug therapy versus placebo or usual care for comatose survivors of cardiac arrest; a systematic review with meta-analysis.
In Europe, approximately 291,000 cardiac arrests occur annually. Despite critical care therapy, hospital mortality remains high. This systematic review assessed whether, in comatose survivors of cardiac arrest, any drug therapy, compared to placebo or usual care, improves outcomes. ⋯ In comatose survivors of cardiac arrest, the majority of trials of drug therapy reported no effect on mortality. Meta-analyses of steroids, coenzyme Q10 and thiamine demonstrated no evidence of an effect on mortality. However, the low certainty of evidence warrants further research.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Interleukin 6 blockage alters the plasma metabolome in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.
Comatose patients resuscitated from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) exhibit a systemic inflammatory response, as indicated by elevated interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels, which is associated with increased mortality. Tocilizumab, an IL-6 receptor antagonist that reduced C-reactive protein response and markers of myocardial injury in a phase II OHCA trial. ⋯ Blocking the IL-6 receptor with tocilizumab early after OHCA impacts circulating metabolites, particularly those within the glycine, serine, and threonine pathways, highlighting the connection between acute systemic inflammation and metabolism. Further, early levels of TCA metabolites are independently associated with early inflammatory response and early medium-chain acylcarnitine with later markers of neurological injury.