Journal of clinical monitoring and computing
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J Clin Monit Comput · Jun 2015
Design and implementation of a hospital wide waveform capture system.
The use of telemetry and invasive monitoring is exceptionally common in modern healthcare. To date the vast majority of this information is not stored for more than a brief duration on the local monitor. This prohibits extensive investigation into waveform data. ⋯ The average single day data collection consisted of 8.6 GB of data. Entire hospital waveform data collection is possible using internally developed software enabling research on waveform data with minimal technical burden. Further research is required to determine the long-term storage and processing of such data.
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J Clin Monit Comput · Jun 2015
Electrocardiogram characteristics prior to in-hospital cardiac arrest.
Survival after in-hospital cardiac arrest (I-HCA) remains < 30 %. There is very limited literature exploring the electrocardiogram changes prior to I-HCA. The purpose of the study was to determine demographics and electrocardiographic predictors prior to I-HCA. ⋯ Inferior ECG leads showed the most significant changes in QRS morphology and ST segments prior to I-HCA (p < 0.05). Subjects with an initial rhythm of asystole demonstrated significantly greater ECG changes including QRS morphology and ST segment changes compared to the subjects with initial rhythms of PEA (p < 0.05). Diagnostic ECG trends can be identified prior to I-HCA due to PEA and asystole and can be further utilized for training a predictive machine learning model for I-HCA.
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J Clin Monit Comput · Jun 2015
Case ReportsFall in inspired oxygen and anaesthetic agent concentrations during change of soda lime absorber.
Following an episode of reduction in inspired oxygen concentration (FiO(2)) and inhalational agent concentration (Fi agent) during the changing of a soda lime absorber, We conducted an in vitro experiment to understand the impact of disconnection of the absorber on inspired gas dilution at different fresh gas flows. We found that both in Dräger Fabius GS and Primus anaesthesia work stations, disconnection of the absorber caused progressive reduction in FiO(2) and Fi agent as the FGF was decreased. The operating principle of fresh gas decoupling (FGD) valve is a potential source of this complication, which must be kept in mind while changing the soda lime during the course of surgery where an anaesthetic work stations utilizing FGD valves are used.
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J Clin Monit Comput · Jun 2015
Derivation of baseline lung impedance in chronic heart failure patients: use for monitoring pulmonary congestion and predicting admissions for decompensation.
The instantaneous lung impedance (ILI) is one of the methods to assess pulmonary congestion or edema (PCE) in chronic heart failure (CHF) patients. Due to usually existing PCE in CHF patients when evaluated, baseline lung impedance (BLI) is unknown. Therefore, the relation of ILI to BLI is unknown. ⋯ Of study patients, 123 were re-hospitalized for PCE during follow up. Their ΔLIR decreased gradually from -21.7 ± 8.2 % 4 weeks pre-admission to -37.8 ± 9.3 % on admission (p < 0.001). Patients improved during hospital stay (NYHA 3.7 ± 0.5 to 2.9 ± 0.8, p < 0.0001) with ΔLIR increasing to -29.1 ± 12.0 % (p < 0.001). ΔLIR based on calculated BLI correlated with the clinical status of CHF patients and allowed the prediction of hospitalizations for PCE.
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J Clin Monit Comput · Jun 2015
Observational StudyImpact of medical training and clinical experience on the assessment of oxygenation and hypoxaemia after general anaesthesia: an observational study.
In Germany it is common practice to use pulse oximetry and supplementary oxygen only on request in patients breathing spontaneously transferred to the post-anaesthesia care unit (PACU) following surgery under general anaesthesia. The main aim was to study the influence of medical training and clinical experience on assessing SpO(2) and detecting hypoxaemia in these patients. The second aim was to do a preliminary assessment whether this practice can be found in countries other than Germany. ⋯ Use of pulse oximetry and supplemental oxygen during patient transfer to the PACU in European countries differs to a large extent. It seems to be applied only on request in many hospitals. Considering the uncertainty about deleterious effects of transient, short lasting hypoxaemia routine use of pulse oximetry is advocated for patient transfer to the PACU.