Publications

In this experimental CA model, HSL infusion was associated with reduced vasopressor requirements and decreased plasma concentrations of measured biomarkers of cardiac and cerebral injury.

Although guidelines provide excellent expert guidance for managing patients with septic shock, they leave room for personalization according to patients' condition. Hemodynamic monitoring depends on the evolution phase: salvage, optimization, stabilization, and de-escalation. Initially during the salvage phase, monitoring to identify shock etiology and severity should include arterial pressure and lactate measurements together with clinical examination, particularly skin mottling and capillary refill time. Low diastolic blood pressure may trigger vasopressor initiation. At this stage, echocardiography may be useful to identify significant cardiac dysfunction. During the optimization phase, echocardiographic monitoring should be pursued and completed by the assessment of tissue perfusion through central or mixed-venous oxygen saturation, lactate, and carbon dioxide veno-arterial gradient. Transpulmonary thermodilution and the pulmonary artery catheter should be considered in the most severe patients. Fluid therapy also depends on shock phases. While administered liberally during the resuscitation phase, fluid responsiveness should be assessed during the optimization phase. During stabilization, fluid infusion should be minimized. In the de-escalation phase, safe fluid withdrawal could be achieved by ensuring tissue perfusion is preserved. Norepinephrine is recommended as first-line vasopressor therapy, while vasopressin may be preferred in some patients. Essential questions remain regarding optimal vasopressor selection, combination therapy, and the most effective and safest escalation. Serum renin and the angiotensin I/II ratio may identify patients who benefit most from angiotensin II. The optimal therapeutic strategy for shock requiring high-dose vasopressors is scant. In all cases, vasopressor therapy should be individualized, based on clinical evaluation and blood flow measurements to avoid excessive vasoconstriction. Inotropes should be considered in patients with decreased cardiac contractility associated with impaired tissue perfusion. Based on pharmacologic properties, we suggest as the first test a limited dose of dobutamine, to add enoximone or milrinone in the second line and substitute or add levosimendan if inefficient. Regarding adjunctive therapies, while hydrocortisone is nowadays advised in patients receiving high doses of vasopressors, patients responding to corticosteroids may be identified in the future by the analysis of selected cytokines or specific transcriptomic endotypes. To conclude, although some general rules apply for shock management, a personalized approach should be considered for hemodynamic monitoring and support.

Dobrin, Bogdan N; Soldati, Giulia; Nuffelen, Marc Van; Vincent, Jean-Louis Author Information

Brain hypoxia can occur after non-traumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), even when levels of intracranial pressure (ICP) remain normal. Brain tissue oxygenation (PbtO₂) can be measured as a part of a neurological multimodal neuromonitoring. Low PbtO₂ has been associated with poor neurologic recovery. There is scarce data on the impact of PbtO₂ guided-therapy on patients' outcome. This single-center cohort study (June 2014-March 2020) included all patients admitted to the ICU after SAH who required multimodal monitoring. Patients with imminent brain death were excluded. Our primary goal was to assess the impact of PbtO₂-guided therapy on neurological outcome. Secondary outcome included the association of brain hypoxia with outcome. Of the 163 patients that underwent ICP monitoring, 62 were monitored with PbtO₂ and 54 (87%) had at least one episode of brain hypoxia. In patients that required treatment based on neuromonitoring strategies, PbtO₂-guided therapy (OR 0.33 [CI 95% 0.12-0.89]) compared to ICP-guided therapy had a protective effect on neurological outcome at 6 months. In this cohort of SAH patients, PbtO₂-guided therapy might be associated with improved long-term neurological outcome, only when compared to ICP-guided therapy.

In patients with septic shock, dopamine administration is associated with greater mortality and a higher incidence of arrhythmic events compared to norepinephrine administration.

Introduction: Early prognostication of neurological outcome after cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is extremely important as it can help to reassess therapeutic intensity or select high-risk patients for specific interventions Hypothesis: Age and biological variables obtained from initial simple blood tests could predict poor neurological outcome (PNO) after CPR Methods: Data from all patients admitted after CPR (in and out-of-hospital) from January 2008 to December 2011 in a mixed 35-bed ICU were assessed. Therapeutic hypothermia was used in all patients. We identified those who had a complete blood gas/electrolyte panel within the first hour after ICU admission. PNO was defined as a cerebral performance category (CPC) score of 4-5 at hospital discharge. We calculated areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) for each variable and derived the score from those having the highest AUROCs. We identified the best cut-off point (the best combination of sensitivity and specificity) which was used as a dichotomic value (0 or 1), with 1 representing PNO. We constructed 20 different models with combinations of the variables to identify the best model according to the highest AUROC. All analyses were performed with SPSS 19.0 Results: A total of 127 patients (mean age 61 years, male gender 76%) were included in the analysis; 69% had out-of-hospital CPR and 57% had shockable rhythms. Overall mortality was 58%. Individual AUROCs (CI 95%) used in the model were: Hemoglobin (Hb) 0.65 (0.55-0.74), blood glucose (Gly) 0.63 (0.53-0.73), lactate (Lac) 0.62 (0.52-0.72), total CO2 (TCO2) 0.59 (0.49-0.69), and age 0.62 (0.52-0.71). The model with the best AUROC (0.772 (0.69-0.85)) included Hb < 12.5 g/dl, Gly > 180 mg/dl, Lac > 2 mEq/L, TCO2 < 20 mEq/L and age? 60 years. Scores of 0-1, 2-3, and 4-5 resulted in predicted PNOs of 30% (7/23), 51% (30/58) and 91% (42/46), and in predicted good neurological outcomes of 69% (16/23), 48% (28/58) and 8% (4/46), respectively. A score of 4-5 had a sensitivity of 53%, specificity of 92%, positive likelihood ratio (LR) of 6.38 and negative LR of 0.51 to predict PNO Conclusions: This simple admission score could help to identify early those patients with likely PNO after CPR