Crit Care Resusc
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Background: There is no gold standard approach for delirium diagnosis, making the assessment of its epidemiology difficult. Delirium can only be inferred though observation of behavioural disturbance and described with relevant nouns or adjectives. Objective: We aimed to use natural language processing (NLP) and its identification of words descriptive of behavioural disturbance to study the epidemiology of delirium in critically ill patients. ⋯ Conclusions: NLP enabled rapid assessment of large amounts of data identifying a population of ICU patients with typical high risk characteristics for delirium. Moreover, this technique enabled identification of previously poorly understood associations. Further investigations of this technique appear justified.
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Objective: The use of angiotensin II in invasively ventilated patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is controversial. Its effect on organ function is unknown. Design: Prospective observational study. ⋯ Conclusions: In ventilated patients with COVID-19, angiotensin II therapy increased blood pressure and PaO2/FiO2 ratios, decreased the OR of liver dysfunction, and appeared to decrease the risk of RRT use in patients with abnormal baseline serum creatinine. However, all of these findings are hypothesis-generating only. Trial registration:ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04318366.
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Objective: We sought to examine the incidence of low amplitude ventricular fibrillation and its impact on successful cardioversion, duration of resuscitation, and survival to hospital discharge in patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). Design: Retrospective analysis from a statewide registry. Setting: Victoria, Australia. ⋯ The duration of resuscitation also increased by 1.7 minutes (95% CI, 1.03-2.36; P < 0.001) for every 0.1 mV increase in final amplitude. Conclusion: More than one-third of initial ventricular fibrillation OHCA cases were low in amplitude. Comparative international data are needed to better understand how low amplitude ventricular fibrillation rhythms confound the measurement of OHCA interventions and international benchmarks for survival outcomes.
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Background: Acute pulmonary oedema is a life-threatening syndrome diagnosed based on radiological and clinical findings. However, to our knowledge, no studies have investigated this syndrome in critically ill patients. Objective: To describe the prevalence of radiologically and clinically diagnosed pulmonary oedema (RCDPO) in critically ill patients, characteristics of diagnosed patients, and treatments and outcomes in this patient population. ⋯ Such patients were sicker and had more comorbidities. The presence of RCDPO was independently associated with higher risk of death. Invasive mechanical ventilation was the only intervention independently associated with greater odds of radiological resolution.
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Objective: The cost of providing care in an intensive care unit (ICU) after brain death to facilitate organ donation is unknown. The objective of this study was to estimate expenditure for the care delivered in the ICU between the diagnosis of brain death and subsequent organ donation. Design: Cohort study of direct and indirect costs using bottom-up and top-down microcosting techniques. ⋯ The mean duration of postdeath care in the ICU was 37.9 hours (standard deviation [SD], 16.5) at a mean total cost of $7520 (SD, $3136) per donor. ICU staff salaries were the greatest contributor to total costs, accounting for a median proportion of 0.72 of total expenditure (interquartile range, 0.68-0.75). Conclusions: Substantial costs are incurred in ICU for the provision of patient care in the interval between brain death and organ donation.