Shock : molecular, cellular, and systemic pathobiological aspects and therapeutic approaches : the official journal the Shock Society, the European Shock Society, the Brazilian Shock Society, the International Federation of Shock Societies
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The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has threatened millions of lives worldwide with severe systemic inflammation, organ dysfunction, and thromboembolic disease. Within our institution, many critically ill COVID-19-positive patients suffered major thrombotic events, prompting our clinicians to evaluate hypercoagulability outside of traditional coagulation testing. We determined the prevalence of fibrinolysis shutdown via rotational thromboelastometry (ROTEM, Instrumentation Laboratories, Bedford, Mass) in patients admitted to the intensive care unit over a period of 3 weeks. ⋯ Eight of 9 (73%) of the VTE patients met criteria for fibrinolysis shutdown. Given the high rate of fibrinolysis shutdown in these patients, our data support using viscoelastic testing to evaluate for the presence of impaired fibrinolysis. This may help identify patient subsets who might benefit from the administration of fibrinolytics.
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The emerging concept of endovascular resuscitation applies catheter-based techniques in the management of patients in shock to manipulate physiology, optimize hemodynamics, and bridge to definitive care. These interventions hope to address an unmet need in the care of severely injured patients, or those with refractory non-traumatic cardiac arrest, who were previously deemed non-survivable. These evolving techniques include Resuscitative Endovascular Balloon Occlusion of Aorta, Selective Aortic Arch Perfusion, and Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation and there is a growing literature base behind them. This review presents the up-to-date techniques and interventions, along with their application, evidence base, and controversy within the new era of endovascular resuscitation.
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Nearly half of severely injured patients suffer acute kidney injury (AKI), but little is known about its pathogenesis or optimal management. We hypothesized that endothelial dysfunction, evidenced by elevated systemic soluble thrombomodulin (sTM) and syndecan-1, would be associated with higher incidence, worsened severity, and prolonged duration of AKI after severe trauma. ⋯ Elevated sTM and syndecan-1, indicating endothelial dysfunction, were associated with higher incidence, worsened severity, and prolonged duration of AKI after severe trauma. Treatments that stabilize the endothelium hold promise for AKI treatment in severely injured patients.
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The development of new vasculature plays a significant role in a number of chronic disease states, including neoplasm growth, peripheral arterial disease, and coronary artery disease, among many others. Traumatic injury and hemorrhage, however, is an immediate, often dramatic pathophysiologic insult that can also necessitate neovascularization to promote healing. Traditional understanding of angiogenesis involved resident endothelial cells branching outward from localized niches in the periphery. ⋯ Following injury, a number of cytokines and intercellular processes are activated or modulated to promote development of new vasculature. These processes initiate and maintain a robust response to vascular insult, allowing new vessels to canalize and anastomose and provide timely oxygen delivering to healing tissue. Ultimately as we better understand the key players in the process of angiogenesis we can look to develop novel techniques to promote healing following injury.