Journal of critical care
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Journal of critical care · Dec 2021
Reconciling the obesity paradox: Obese patients suffer the highest critical illness associated mortality rates.
The obesity paradox refers to the observation that obese patients admitted to intensive care units (ICU) have lower case fatality as compared to healthy weight patients. However, selection bias could explain the apparent paradox. Our objective was to assess whether obese people have a different overall burden of critical illness associated mortality. ⋯ ICU admission incidence rates were 245.6, 138.2, 178.9, and 421.9 per 100,000 population; 90-day all cause case fatalities were 24.0%, 17.0%, 18.1%, and 16.0%; and critical illness associated mortality rates were 58.8, 23.4, 32.4, and 67.7 per 100,000 population among underweight, healthy weight, overweight, and obese patients, respectively. As compared to patients of healthy weight, those who were underweight (relative risk; RR 2.51; 95% CI, 1.79-3.44), overweight (RR 1.38; 95% CI, 1.16-1.65), and obese (RR 2.89; 2.43-3.43) were each at significantly higher risk for critical illness associated mortality. While obese patients have lower case fatality they are at much higher risk for ICU admission and as result suffer the highest burden of critical illness associated mortality in our region.
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Journal of critical care · Dec 2021
Intensive Care Unit prioritization: The impact of ICU bed availability on mortality in critically ill patients who requested ICU admission in court in a Brazilian cohort.
To assess hospital mortality in patients who requested ICU admission in court due to the scarcity of ICU beds in the Brazilian public health system and the consequences of these judicial litigations. ⋯ A large proportion of patients was denied ICU admission and it was associated with an increased mortality. A considerable portion of the ICU-admitted patients were classified as priority level III and IV, impairing the ICU admission of patients with priority level I which are the ones with the greatest benefit from it.
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Journal of critical care · Dec 2021
Stewart analysis unmasks acidifying and alkalizing effects of ionic shifts during acute severe respiratory alkalosis.
Although both the Henderson-Hasselbalch method and the Stewart approach can be used to analyze acid-base disturbances and metabolic and respiratory compensation mechanisms, the latter may be superior in detecting subtle metabolic changes. ⋯ Henderson-Hasselbalch analysis indicated a profound and purely respiratory alkalosis with no metabolic compensation following extreme hyperventilation. The Stewart approach revealed metabolic compensation occurring within minutes. These results challenge the long-held axiom that metabolic compensation of acute respiratory acid-base changes is a slow process.
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Journal of critical care · Dec 2021
Quality of life and functional status of patients treated with venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation at 6 months.
Quality of life (QoL) outcomes of patients treated with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) have been conflicting. This study reports on QoL outcomes for a broad group of ARDS patients managed with up-to-date treatment modalities. ⋯ Patients with ARDS treated with ECMO generally had good QoL outcomes, similar to outcomes reported for patients managed without ECMO. With respect to QoL, VV-EMCO represents a valid treatment modality for patients with refractory ARDS.