Category Archives: JCCM 2021

Ischemic Stroke in Patients with Cancer: A Retrospective Cross-Sectional Study

Anca Motataianu1, Smaranda Maier1, Sebastian Andone2, Laura Barcutean1, Georgiana Serban2, Zoltan Bajko1, Adrian Balasa1

1. George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Technology of Targu Mures, Romania
2. Emergency County Hospital Targu Mures, Romania

DOI: 10.2478/jccm-2021-0002

Introduction: An increasing trend of cancer associated stroke has been noticed in the past decade.
Objectives: To evaluate the risk factors and the incidence of neoplasia in stroke patients.
Material and Method: A retrospective, observational study was undertaken on 249 patients with stroke and active cancer (SAC) and 1563 patients with stroke without cancer (SWC). The general cardiovascular risk factors, the site of cancer, and the general clinical data were registered and evaluated. According to the “Oxfordshire Community Stroke Project” (OCSP) classification, all patients were classified into the clinical subtypes of stroke. The aetiology of stroke was considered as large-artery atherosclerosis, small vessel disease, cardio-embolic, cryptogenic or other determined cause.
Results: The severity of neurological deficits at admission were significantly higher in the SAC group (p<0.01). The haemoglobin level was significantly lower, and platelet level and erythrocyte sedimentation rate were significantly higher in the SAC group. Glycaemia, cholesterol and triglycerides levels were significantly higher in the SWC group. The personal history of hypertension was more frequent in the SWC group. In the SAC group, 28.9% had a cryptogenic aetiology, compared to 9.1% in SWC group. Cardio-embolic strokes were more frequent in the SAC group (24%) than the SWC group (19.6%). In the SAC group, 15,6% were diagnosed with cancer during the stroke hospitalization, and 78% of the SAC patients were without metastasis.
Conclusions: The most frequent aetiologies of stroke in cancer patients were cryptogenic stroke, followed by large-artery atherosclerosis. SAC patients had more severe neurological deficits and worse clinical outcomes than SWC patients. Stroke in cancer patients appears to be more frequently cryptogenic, probably due to cancer associated thrombosis. The association between stroke and cancer is important, especially in stroke of cryptogenic mechanism, even in the presence of traditional cardiovascular risk factors.

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An Incident of a Massive Pulmonary
Embolism following Acute Aortic Dissection. A Case Report

Sofia Fernandes1, Mariana Rodrigues1, Catarina Barreiros1, Hugo Côrte-Real2, Ricardo Ferreira2, Ângelo Nobre2

1. Department of Anesthesiology, Centro Hospitalar Universitario Lisboa Norte EPE, Lisboa, Portugal
2. Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Centro Hospitalar Universitario Lisboa Norte EPE, Lisboa, Portugal

DOI: 10.2478/jccm-2021-0001

Acute aortic dissection and acute pulmonary embolism are two life-threatening emergencies. The presented case is of an 81-year-old man who has been diagnosed with an acute Stanford type A aortic dissection and referred to a tertiary hospital for surgical treatment. After a successful aortic repair and an overall favourable postoperative recovery, he was diagnosed with cervical and upper extremity deep vein thrombosis and was anticoagulated accordingly. He later presented with massive bilateral pulmonary embolism.

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The Correspondence between Fluid Balance and Body Weight Change Measurements in Critically Ill Adult Patients

Ana Carolina Peçanha Antonio1, Vivian Rodrigues Fernandes2, Karina de Oliveira Azzolin3

1 Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, Brazil
2 Fellow nurse, Instituto de Cardiologia, Porto Alegre, Brazil
3 Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul Instituto de Ciencias Basicas da Saude, Porto Alegre, Brazil

DOI: 10.2478/jccm-2020-0048

Introduction: Positive fluid status has been associated with a worse prognosis in intensive care unit (ICU) patients. Given the potential for errors in the calculation of fluid balance totals and the problem of accounting for indiscernible fluid losses, measurement of body weight change is an alternative non-invasive method commonly used for estimating body fluid status. The objective of the study is to compare the measurements of fluid balance and body weight changes over time and to assess their association with ICU mortality. Methods: This prospective observational study was conducted in the 34-bed multidisciplinary ICU of a tertiary teaching hospital in southern Brazil. Adult patients were eligible if their expected length of stay was more than 48 hours, and if they were not receiving an oral diet. Clinical demographic data, daily and cumulative fluid balance with and without indiscernible water loss, and daily and total body weight changes were recorded. Agreement between daily fluid balance and body weight change, and between cumulative fluid balance and total body weight change were calculated. Results: Cumulative fluid balance and total body weight change differed significantly among survivors and non survivors respectively, +2.53L versus +5.6L (p= 0.012) and -3.05kg vs -1.1kg (p= 0.008). The average daily difference between measured fluid balance and body weight was +0.864 L/kg with a wide interval: -3.156 to +4.885 L/kg, which remained so even after adjustment for indiscernible losses (mean bias: +0.288; limits of agreement between -3.876 and +4.452 L/kg). Areas under ROC curve for cumulative fluid balance, cumulative fluid balance with indiscernible losses and total body weight change were, respectively, 0.65, 0.56 and 0.65 (p= 0.14). Conclusion: The results indicated the absence of correspondence between fluid balance and body weight change, with a more significant discrepancy between cumulative fluid balance and total body weight change. Both fluid balance and body weight changes were significantly different among survivors and non-survivors, but neither measurement discriminated ICU mortality.

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The Strategy Management of a SARS-CoV-2 Outbreak in an Eastern European Hospital

Gabriela Droc, Lavinia Brezeanu, Cristina Martac, Alexandra Solomon, Stefan Andrei

Clinical Institute Fundeni, Bucharest, Romania

DOI: 10.2478/jccm-2020-0047

The new severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is an ongoing global challenge with unpredictable future evolution. Different epidemiological and clinical strategies currently are being evaluated, and the optimal treatment modalities are still to be determined. Developed healthcare systems have been struggling to cope with the additional medical requirements and the lockdown measures, adopted by many countries, are presenting a substantial economic burden.
Countries with more fragile economies and medical systems are facing difficult choices. Romania possesses a progressive yet fragile healthcare system. The national lockdown was declared on 25th March 2020, in order to gain time for better logistic healthcare preparations.
This brief report aims to describe the challenges of managing an in-hospital SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in an academic hospital of national importance. Our institution is the primary national centre for liver transplantation and liver surgery, a major centre for bone marrow transplantation and one of the two national centres for renal transplantation. It shares common buildings with the major national cardiovascular and emergency cardiac surgery centre. [More]

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Prognostic Value of Bone Formation and Resorption Proteins in Heterotopic Ossification in Critically-Ill Patients. A Single-Centre Study

Alice Georgia Vassiliou1, Edison Jahaj1, Zafeiria Mastora1, Ioannis Karnezis2, Ioanna Dimopoulou1, Stylianos E. Orfanos1, Anastasia Kotanidou1

1 First Department of Critical Care Medicine and Pulmonary Services, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Evangelismos Hospital, Athens, Greece
2 Department of Orthopedics, Evangelismos Hospital, Athens, Greece

DOI: 10.2478/jccm-2020-0046

Introduction: A potential complication in critically ill patients is the formation of bone in soft tissues, termed heterotopic ossification. The exact pathogenetic mechanisms are still undetermined. Bone morphogenetic proteins induce bone formation, while signalling through the receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa-Β (RANK) and its ligand (RANKL), regulates osteoclast formation, activation, and survival in normal bone modelling and remodelling. Osteoprotegerin protects bone from excessive bone loss by blocking RANKL from binding to RANK.
Aim: The study aimed to investigate these molecules as potential prognostic biomarkers of heterotopic ossification development in critically ill patients.
Materials and Methods: In this prospective observational study, BMP-2, RANKL, and osteoprotegerin were measured by ELISA in twenty-eight critically-ill, initially non-septic patients, on admission to an ICU, seven days post-admission, and thirty days after ICU discharge.
Results: In the critically-ill cohort, nine of the twenty-eight patients developed heterotopic ossification up to the 30-day follow-up time-point. The patients who developed heterotopic ossification exhibited significantly reduced BMP-2 and RANKL levels on ICU admission, compared to patients who did not; Osteoprotegerin readings were similar in both groups.
Conclusions: Critically-ill patients who will subsequently develop heterotopic ossification, have significantly lower BMP-2 and RANKL levels at the time of ICU admission, suggesting that these proteins may be useful as prognostic markers for this debilitating condition.

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Mortality Rate and Predictors among Patients with COVID-19 Related Acute Respiratory Failure Requiring Mechanical Ventilation: A Retrospective Single Centre Study

Christophe de Terwangne1, Antonio Sorgente2, Redente Tortora3, Diana Cheung3, Frederic Duprez3, Sammy Place1, Jerome R. Lechien4, Lucio Capulzini2, Michael De Cubber2, Sven Saussez4, Fabio Silvio Taccone5, Shahram Mashayekhi3

1 Department of Internal Medicine, Centre Hospitalier EpiCURA Hornu, Hornu, Belgium
2 Department of Cardiology, Centre Hospitalier EpiCURA, Hornu, Belgium
3 Department of Intensive Care, Centre Hospitalier EpiCURA, Hornu, Belgium
4 Department of Human Anatomy and Experimental Oncology, University of Mons, Mons, Belgium
5 Department of Intensive Care, Hopital Erasme, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium

DOI: 10.2478/jccm-2020-0043

Aim: The objective of the study was to assess mortality rates in COVID-19 patients suffering from acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) who also requiring mechanical ventilation. The predictors of mortality in this cohort were analysed, and the clinical characteristics recorded.
Material and method: A single centre retrospective study was conducted on all COVID-19 patients admitted to the intensive care unit of the Epicura Hospital Center, Province of Hainaut, Belgium, between March 1st and April 30th 2020.
Results: Forty-nine patients were included in the study of which thirty-four were male, and fifteen were female. The mean (SD) age was 68.8 (10.6) and 69.5 (12.6) for males and females, respectively. The median time to death after the onset of symptoms was eighteen days. The median time to death, after hospital admission was nine days. By the end of the thirty days follow-up, twenty-seven patients (55%) had died, and twenty–two (45%) had survived. Non-survivors, as compared to those who survived, were similar in gender, prescribed medications, COVID-19 symptoms, with similar laboratory test results. They were significantly older (p = 0.007), with a higher co-morbidity burden (p = 0.026) and underwent significantly less tracheostomy (p < 0.001). In multivariable logistic regression analysis, no parameter significantly predicted mortality.
Conclusions: This study reported a mortality rate of 55% in critically ill COVID-19 patients with ARDS who also required mechanical ventilation. The results corroborate previous findings that older and more comorbid patients represent the population at most risk of a poor outcome in this setting.

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Personalisation of Therapies in COVID-19 Associated Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Using Electrical Impedance Tomography

Atsuko Shono1, Toru Kotani1, Inéz Frerichs2

1 Department of Intensive Care Medicine, Showa University School of Medicine, Shinagawa, Tokyo Japan
2 Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, University Medical Center, Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel, Germany

DOI: 10.2478/jccm-2020-0045

Introduction: Each patient suffering from severe coronavirus COVID-19-associated acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), requiring mechanical ventilation, shows different lung mechanics and disease evolution. Therefore, lung protective strategies should be personalised for the individual patient.
Case presentation: A 64-year-old male patient was intubated ten days after the symptoms of COVID-19 infection presented. He was placed in the prone position for sixteen hours, resulting in a marked improvement in oxygenation. However, after being returned to the supine position, his SpO2 rapidly dropped from 98% to 91%, and electrical impedance tomography showed less ventilation at the dorsal region and a ventral shift of ventilation distribution. An incremental and decremental PEEP trial under electrical impedance tomography monitoring was carried out, confirming that the dependent lung regions were recruited with increased pressures and homogenous ventilation distribution could be provided with 14 cmH2O of PEEP. The optimal settings were reassessed next day after returning from the second session of the prone position. After four prone position-sessions in five days, oxygenation was stabilised and eventually the patient was discharged.
Conclusions: Patients with COVID-19 associated ARDS require individualised ventilation support depending on the stage of their disease. Daily PEEP trial monitored by electrical impedance tomography can provide important information to tailor the respiratory therapies.

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The Susceptibility of MDR-K. Pneumoniae to Polymyxin B Plus its Nebulised Form Versus Polymyxin B Alone in Critically Ill South Asian Patients

Md. Jahidul Hasan1, Raihan Rabbani2, Ahmad Mursel Anam3, Ario Santini4, Shihan Mahmud Redwanul Huq2

1 Clinical Pharmacy Services, Square Hospitals Ltd., Dhaka, Bangladesh
2 ICU and Internal Medicine, Square Hospitals Ltd., Dhaka, Bangladesh
3 High Dependency Unit (HDU), Square Hospitals Ltd., Dhaka, Bangladesh
4 University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science and Technology of Targu Mures, Romania

DOI: 10.2478/jccm-2020-0044

Introduction: Critically ill patients in intensive care units are at high risk of dying not only from the severity of their illness but also from secondary causes such as hospital-acquired infections. USA national medical record-data show that approximately 10% of patients on mechanical ventilation in an intensive care unit developed ventilator-associated pneumonia. Polymyxin B has been used intravenously in the treatment of multi-drug resistant gram-negative infections, either as a monotherapy or with other potentially effective antibiotics, and the recent international guidelines have emphasised the use of nebulised polymyxin B together with intravenous polymyxin B to gain the optimum clinical outcome in ventilator-associated pneumonia cases caused by multi-drug resistant gram-negative infections.
Methods: One hundred and seventy-eight patients with ventilator-associated pneumonia due to multi-drug resistant K. pneumoniae were identified during the study period. Following the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 121 patients were enrolled in the study and randomly allocated to two study groups. Group 1 patients were treated with intravenous Polymyxin B plus nebulised polymyxin B (n=64) and Group 2 patients with intravenous Polymyxin B alone (n=57). The study aimed to compare the use of Polymyxin B plus its nebulised form to polymyxin B alone, in the treatment of MDR-K. pneumoniae associated ventilator-associated pneumonia in critically ill patients.
Results: In Group 1, a complete clearance of K. pneumoniae was found in fifty-nine patients (92.1%; n=64) compared to forty patients (70.1%, n=57) in the Group 2 (P<0.003). The average time till extubation was significantly higher in Group 2 compared to Group 1 (P<0.05). The total length-of-stay in the ICU was significantly higher in Group 2 compared to Group 1. (P<0.05). These results support the view that the Polymyxin B dual-route regime may be considered as an appropriate antibiotic therapy, in critically ill South Asian patients with ventilator-associated pneumonia.

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Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Burnout in Healthcare Professionals During the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study

Ioannis Ilias1, Vassiliki Mantziou2, Efstratios Vamvakas2, Efstathia Kampisiouli2, Maria Theodorakopoulou2, Chariklia Vrettou2, Evangelia Douka2, Alice G. Vassiliou2, Stylianos Orfanos2, Anastasia Kotanidou2, Ioanna Dimopoulou2

1 Elena Venizelou Hospital, Athens, Greece
2 National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

DOI: 10.2478/jccm-2020-0042

Introduction: Healthcare professionals who are directly involved in the diagnosis, treatment, and general care of patients with SARS-CoV-2 are at risk of developing adverse psychological reactions. A cross-sectional study of healthcare professionals aimed to determine the impact of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on the mental health of healthcare professionals in two of the largest referral hospitals in Athens, Greece.
Methods: The study was conducted in the two largest SARS-CoV-2 referral hospitals in Athens, Greece. An assessment and the interrelationship of post-traumatic stress disorder, using the Impact of Event Scale-Revised [IES-R]) and burnout, using the Maslach Burnout Inventory [MBI]) was carried out.
Results: A total of 162 subjects were enrolled in the study. Fifty-six (35%) had an IES-R score > 33, suggesting post-traumatic stress disorder. Forty-nine (30%) had an MBI score > 27. Seventy-five (46%) had a personal accomplishment score of < 33 and 46 (28%) had a depersonalization score >10. Stepwise backward logistic regression revealed that the only independent variable that was retained regarding the presence of post-traumatic stress disorder was the emotional exhaustion score of the MBI (at a cut-off of 24 in this scale, the 95% CI of the odds ratio for the presence of post-traumatic stress disorder was 1.077-1.173).
Conclusions: In this sample of first-line Greek healthcare professionals against SARS-CoV-2, most of them were proven to be quite resilient to this challenge. One-third of them had post-traumatic stress disorder, which depended on their degree of emotional exhaustion. Healthcare professionals, as represented by this study, performed their duties without feeling helpless and developing adverse psychological reactions.

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