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Background: Hemoadsorption (HA) might mitigate the systemic inflammatory response associated with post-cardiac arrest syndrome (PCAS) and improve outcomes. Here, we investigated the feasibility, safety and efficacy of HA with CytoSorb® in cardiac arrest (CA) survivors at risk of PCAS. Methods: In this pilot randomized controlled trial, we included patients admitted to our intensive care unit following CA and likely to develop PCAS: required norepinephrine (> 0.2 µg/kg/min), and/or had serum lactate > 6 mmol/l and/or a time-to-return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) > 25 min. Those requiring ECMO or renal replacement therapy were excluded. Eligible patients were randomly allocated to either receive standard of care (SOC) or SOC plus HA. Hemoadsorption was performed as stand-alone therapy for 24 h, using CytoSorb® and regional heparin–protamine anticoagulation. We collected feasibility, safety and clinical data as well as serial plasma cytokines levels within 72 h of randomization. Results: We enrolled 21 patients, of whom 16 (76%) had out-of-hospital CA. Median (IQR) time-to-ROSC was 30 (20, 45) minutes. Ten were assigned to the HA group and 11 to the SOC group. Hemoadsorption was initiated in all patients allocated to the HA group within 18 (11, 23) h of ICU admission and conducted for a median duration of 21 (14, 24) h. The intervention was well tolerated except for a trend for a higher rate of aPTT elevation (5 (50%) vs 2 (18%) p = 0.18) and mild (100–150 G/L) thrombocytopenia at day 1 (5 (50%) vs 2 (18%) p = 0.18). Interleukin (IL)-6 plasma levels at randomization were low (< 100 pg/mL) in 10 (48%) patients and elevated (> 1000 pg/mL) in 6 (29%). The median relative reduction in IL-6 at 48 h was 75% (60, 94) in the HA group versus 5% (− 47, 70) in the SOC group (p = 0.06). Conclusions: In CA survivors at risk of PCAS, HA was feasible, safe and was associated with a nonsignificant reduction in cytokine plasma levels. Future trials are needed to further define the role of HA after CA. Those studies should include cytokine assessment to enrich the study population. Trial registration: NCT03523039, registered 14 May 2018. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patients with serious thermal burn injuries require immediate and specialized care in order to minimize morbidity and mortality. Optimal fluid resuscitation, nutritional support, pulmonary care, burn wound care, and infection control practices represent key aspects of patient care in burn centers. When severely burned, the patient usually presents a systemic inflammatory response syndrome, soon balanced by a counter anti-inflammatory response syndrome. These may lead to immune dysregulation/exhaustion favoring infectious complications that dramatically impair the prognosis of burn patients. This narrative review provides an overview of the main concepts, current understanding, and potential applications of extracorporeal blood purification techniques for burn patient management. Current understanding of burn patients' immune responses is reported. Hypotheses and data on the potential value of immunoregulation are reviewed. Finally, how extracorporeal blood purification may be of interest in this specific population is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As highlighted by the last international consensus definition for sepsis and septic shock (sepsis-3), sepsis comes from a complex relationship between a pathogen and a dysregulated host response. To date, the treatment of sepsis is based on antimicrobial treatment, source control, and organ support. Extracorporeal blood purification therapies have been proposed as adjuvant therapies to modulate the dysregulated inflammatory response. These therapies aim mostly at removing inflammatory mediators (cytokines) and endotoxins from the blood. However, so far, they failed to clearly demonstrate an improvement in patient survival when evaluated in randomized trials. Recently, new devices directly targeting the primary determinants of sepsis, e.g., the pathogen itself and the host immune cells, have been developed. This short review aimed at presenting new blood purification devices that have recently been developed to target pathogens and immune cells. For each, we will present the mechanism of action of the therapy and discuss the related literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Different molecular forms of urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) have recently been discovered. We aimed to explore the nature, source and discriminatory value of urinary NGAL in intensive care unit (ICU) patients. Methods We simultaneously measured plasma NGAL (pNGAL), urinary NGAL (uNGAL), and estimated monomeric and homodimeric uNGAL contribution using Western blotting-validated enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays [uNGAL.sub.E1 and uNGAL.sub.E2] and their calculated ratio in 102 patients with the systemic inflammatory response syndrome and oliguria, and/or a creatinine rise of >25 [mu]mol/L. Measurements and main results Bland-Altman analysis demonstrated that, despite correlating well (r = 0.988), uNGAL and uNGAL.sub.E1 were clinically distinct, lacking both accuracy and precision (bias: 266.23; 95 % CI 82.03-450.44 ng/mg creatinine; limits of agreement: -1,573.86 to 2,106.32 ng/mg creatinine). At best, urinary forms of NGAL are fair (area under the receiver operating characteristic [AUROC] [less than or equal to]0.799) predictors of renal or patient outcome; most perform significantly worse. The 44 patients with a primarily monomeric source of uNGAL had higher pNGAL (118.5 ng/ml vs. 72.5 ng/ml; p < 0.001), remaining significant following Bonferroni correction. Conclusions uNGAL is not a useful predictor of outcome in this ICU population. uNGAL patterns may predict distinct clinical phenotypes. The nature and source of uNGAL are complex and challenge the utility of NGAL as a uniform biomarker., Author(s): Neil J. Glassford [sup.1], Antoine G. Schneider [sup.1], Shengyuan Xu [sup.2], Glenn M. Eastwood [sup.1], Helen Young [sup.1], Leah Peck [sup.1], Per Venge [sup.2], Rinaldo Bellomo [sup.1] [sup.3] Author [...]

Purpose Choice of renal replacement therapy (RRT) modality may affect renal recovery after acute kidney injury (AKI). We sought to compare the rate of dialysis dependence among severe AKI survivors according to the choice of initial renal replacement therapy (RRT) modality applied [continuous (CRRT) or intermittent (IRRT)]. Methods Systematic searches of peer-reviewed publications in MEDLINE and EMBASE were performed (last update July 2012). All studies published after 2000 reporting dialysis dependence among survivors from severe AKI requiring RRT were included. Data on follow-up duration, sex, age, chronic kidney disease, illness severity score, vasopressors, and mechanical ventilation were extracted when available. Results were pooled using a random-effects model. Results We identified 23 studies: seven randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and 16 observational studies involving 472 and 3,499 survivors, respectively. Pooled analyses of RCTs showed no difference in the rate of dialysis dependence among survivors (relative risk, RR 1.15 [95 % confidence interval (CI) 0.78-1.68], I.sup.2 = 0 %). However, pooled analyses of observational studies suggested a higher rate of dialysis dependence among survivors who initially received IRRT as compared with CRRT (RR 1.99 [95 % CI 1.53-2.59], I.sup.2 = 42 %). These findings were consistent with adjusted analyses (performed in 7/16 studies), which found a higher rate of dialysis dependence in IRRT-treated patients [odds ratio (OR) 2.2-25 (5 studies)] or no difference (2 studies). Conclusions Among AKI survivors, initial treatment with IRRT might be associated with higher rates of dialysis dependence than CRRT. However, this finding largely relies on data from observational trials, potentially subject to allocation bias, hence further high-quality studies are necessary., Author(s): Antoine G. Schneider [sup.1] [sup.2], Rinaldo Bellomo [sup.1] [sup.2], Sean M. Bagshaw [sup.3], Neil J. Glassford [sup.1] [sup.2], Serigne Lo [sup.4], Min Jun [sup.4], Alan Cass [sup.4], Martin Gallagher [...]

To the Editor: New members have recently been recognized in the order Chlamydiales (1). The family Rhabdochlamydiaceae includes R. porcellionis (a parasite of Porcellio scaber) and R. crassificans (a pathogen [...]

Few patients with coronavirus disease 2019–associated severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) require veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV-ECMO). Prolonged VV-ECMO support necessitates repeated oxygenator replacement, increasing the risk for complications. Transient hypoxemia, induced by VV-ECMO stop needed for this procedure, may induce transient myocardial ischemia and acutely declining cardiac output in critically ill patients without residual pulmonary function. This is amplified by additional activation of the sympathetic nervous system (tachycardia, pulmonary vasoconstriction, and increased systemic vascular resistance). Immediate reinjection of the priming solution of the new circuit and induced acute iatrogenic anemia are other potentially reinforcing factors. The case of a critically ill patient presented here provides an instructive illustration of the hemodynamic relationships occurring during VV-ECMO support membrane oxygenator exchange. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Disturbances in renal microcirculation play an important role in the pathophysiology of chronic kidney disease (CKD), but the lack of easy accessible techniques hampers our understanding of the regulation of the renal microcirculation in humans. We assessed whether contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) can identify differences in cortical perfusion and alterations induced by different dietary salt intakes in CKD patients and controls. Methods Participants underwent CEUS twice: once after 5 days of high-salt (HS) intake, and again after 5 days of low salt (LS) diet. Sonovue® (0.015 mL/kg/min) was perfused as contrast agent and four consecutive destruction–reperfusion sequences were analysed per visit. The primary outcome measure was the (change in) mean perfusion index (PI) of the renal cortex. Results Forty healthy volunteers (mean age ± standard deviation 50 ± 8 years) and 18 CKD Stages 2–4 patients [aged 55 ± 11 years, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) 54 ± 28 mL/min/1.73 m2] were included and underwent CEUS without side effects. Under HS conditions, cortical PI was significantly lower in CKD patients [1618 ± 1352 versus 3176 ± 2278 arbitrary units (a.u) in controls, P = 0.034]. Under LS, renal PI increased in CKD patients (with +1098 to 2716 ± 1540 a.u. P = 0.048), whereas PI remained stable in controls. In the continuous analysis, PI correlated with eGFR (Spearman's r  = 0.54, P = 0.005) but not with age, sex, blood pressure or aldosterone levels. Conclusions CEUS identified important reductions in cortical micro-perfusion in patients with moderate CKD. Lowering salt intake increased perfusion in CKD patients, but not in controls, underlining the benefits of an LS diet in CKD patients. Whether a low PI is an early sign of kidney damage and predicts renal function decline needs further study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]