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Background: The effects of obesity on pulmonary gas and blood distribution in patients with acute respiratory failure remain unknown. Dual-energy computed tomography (DECT) is a X-ray-based method used to study regional distribution of gas and blood within the lung. We hypothesized that 1) regional gas/blood mismatch can be quantified by DECT; 2) obesity influences the global and regional distribution of pulmonary gas and blood; 3) regardless of ventilation modality (invasive vs. non-invasive ventilation), patients’ body mass index (BMI) has an impact on pulmonary gas/blood mismatch. Methods: This single-centre prospective observational study enrolled 118 hypoxic COVID-19 patients (92 male) in need of respiratory support and intensive care who underwent DECT. The cohort was divided into three groups according to BMI: 1. BMI<25 kg/m2 (non-obese), 2. BMI = 25–40 kg/m2 (overweight to obese), and 3. BMI>40 kg/m2 (morbidly obese). Gravitational analysis of Hounsfield unit distribution of gas and blood was derived from DECT and used to calculate regional gas/blood mismatch. A sensitivity analysis was performed to investigate the influence of the chosen ventilatory modality and BMI on gas/blood mismatch and adjust for other possible confounders (i.e., age and sex). Results: 1) Regional pulmonary distribution of gas and blood and their mismatch were quantified using DECT imaging. 2) The BMI>40 kg/m2 group had less hyperinflation in the non-dependent regions and more lung collapse in the dependent regions compared to the other BMI groups. In morbidly obese patients, gas and blood were more evenly distributed; therefore, the mismatch was lower than in other patients (30% vs. 36%, p < 0.05). 3) An increase in BMI of 5 kg/m2 was associated with a decrease in mismatch of 3.3% (CI: 3.67% to −2.93%, p < 0.05). Neither the ventilatory modality nor age and sex affected the gas/blood mismatch (p > 0.05). Conclusion: 1) In a hypoxic COVID-19 population needing intens

BACKGROUND: The remaining symptoms in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) treated in intensive care unit are limited described. Therefore, we assessed patient's perception of their COVID-19 disease, stay in intensive care, and remaining symptoms three to six months after intensive care. METHODS: Prospective cohort study was performed in one intensive care unit of a university hospital in Sweden during the first wave. A questionnaire with open-ended questions and closed-ended questions was used. Data were analyzed using qualitative and quantitative content analysis and descriptive statistics. RESULTS: Out of 123 patients treated for COVID-19, 64 answered the questionnaire 3-6 months after discharge from intensive care. Memories from illness and hospital stay revealed in three categories; awareness of the illness, losing anchor to reality and being cared for in a dynamic environment. Information was perceived as spare by 48% and they wanted the information to be more personal. The diary was perceived as personal and was received by 33% patients. The relationship with family was affected among 39% and 13% of the patients indicated that they had not resumed their daily life. A large amount, 84%, indicated that they had remaining symptoms from COVID-19. The dominated symptoms were impaired strength and energy both physically and mentally. CONCLUSION: Patients reported a variety of physical and mental symptoms, and revealed memories from the ICU, and specific awareness of other patients' health. It illustrates the need for screening patients for remaining symptoms after COVID-19 disease and ICU care and may affect resuming patients' daily life.

Importance: While much of the attention on the COVID-19 pandemic was directed at the daily counts of cases and those with serious disease overwhelming health services, increasingly, reports have appeared of people who experience debilitating symptoms after the initial infection. This is popularly known as long COVID. Objective: To estimate by country and territory of the number of patients affected by long COVID in 2020 and 2021, the severity of their symptoms and expected pattern of recovery. Design: We jointly analyzed ten ongoing cohort studies in ten countries for the occurrence of three major symptom clusters of long COVID among representative COVID cases. The defining symptoms of the three clusters (fatigue, cognitive problems, and shortness of breath) are explicitly mentioned in the WHO clinical case definition. For incidence of long COVID, we adopted the minimum duration after infection of three months from the WHO case definition. We pooled data from the contributing studies, two large medical record databases in the United States, and findings from 44 published studies using a Bayesian meta-regression tool. We separately estimated occurrence and pattern of recovery in patients with milder acute infections and those hospitalized. We estimated the incidence and prevalence of long COVID globally and by country in 2020 and 2021 as well as the severity-weighted prevalence using disability weights from the Global Burden of Disease study. Results: Analyses are based on detailed information for 1906 community infections and 10526 hospitalized patients from the ten collaborating cohorts, three of which included children. We added published data on 37262 community infections and 9540 hospitalized patients as well as ICD-coded medical record data concerning 1.3 million infections. Globally, in 2020 and 2021, 144.7 million (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 54.8-312.9) people suffered from any of the three symptom clusters of long COVID. This corresponds to 3.69% (1.38-7.

Background Informal caregivers to intensive care unit (ICU) survivors may develop post-intensive care syndrome family (PICS-F), including depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress (PTS). Our primary aim was to investigate associations between caregiver burden in informal caregivers cohabiting with ICU survivors and patients’ physical and psychological outcomes. Methods A prospective, multicentre cohort study in four ICUs in Sweden. Adults cohabiting with ICU patients included in a previous study were eligible for inclusion. Three months post-ICU, informal caregivers received questionnaires assessing caregiver burden, health-related quality of life (HRQL) and symptoms of depression, anxiety and PTS. In parallel, patients reported their three-month physical and psychological status via validated questionnaires. The primary outcome of this study was to compare caregiver burden in informal caregivers to patients with and without adverse physical and psychological outcomes 3 months post-ICU. Secondary outcomes were correlations between caregiver burden and informal caregivers’ mental HRQL. Results Among 62 included informal caregivers, 55 (89%) responded to the follow-up questionnaires. Caregiver burden was higher among informal caregivers to patients with an adverse outcome, compared to informal caregivers to patients without an adverse outcome, caregiver burden scale score mean (±standard deviation) 52 (11) and 41 (13) respectively (p = 0.003). There was strong negative correlation between caregiver burden and informal caregivers’ mental HRQL (rs −0.74, p < 0.001). Conclusion Informal caregivers to ICU survivors with adverse physical or psychological outcome experience a higher caregiver burden. A higher caregiver burden correlates with worse caregiver mental HRQL. ICU follow-up programs should consider screening and follow-up of informal caregivers for mental health problems.

There is limited knowledge about the long-term effects on pulmonary function of COVID-19 in patients that required intensive care treatment. Spirometry and diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide (DLCO) were measured in 60 subjects at 3-6 months post discharge. Impaired lung function was found in 52% of the subjects, with reduced DLCO as the main finding. The risk increased with age above 60 years, need for mechanical ventilation and longer ICU stay as well as lower levels of C-reactive protein at admission. This suggests the need of follow-up with pulmonary function testing in intensive-care treated patients.

BackgroundMethods to identify patients at risk for incomplete physical recovery after intensive care unit (ICU) stay are lacking. Our aim was to develop a method for prediction of new-onset physical disability at ICU discharge. MethodsMultinational prospective cohort study in 10 general ICUs in Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands. Adult patients with an ICU stay >= 12 hours were eligible for inclusion. Sixteen candidate predictors were analyzed with logistic regression for associations with the primary outcome; new-onset physical disability 3 months post-ICU, defined as a >= 10 score reduction in the Barthel Index (BI) compared to baseline. ResultsOf the 572 included patients, follow-up data are available on 78% of patients alive at follow-up. The incidence of new-onset physical disability was 19%. Univariable and multivariable modeling rendered one sole predictor for the outcome: physical status at ICU discharge, assessed with the five first items of the Chelsea critical care physical assessment tool (CPAx) (odds ratio 0.87, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.81-0.93), a higher score indicating a lower risk, with an area under the receiver operating characteristics curve of 0.68 (95% CI 0.61-0.76). Negative predictive value for a low-risk group (CPAx score >18) was 0.88, and positive predictive value for a high-risk group (CPAx score <= 18) was 0.32. ConclusionThe ICU discharge assessment described in this study had a moderate AUC but may be useful to rule out patients unlikely to need physical interventions post-ICU. For high-risk patients, research to determine post-ICU risk factors for an incomplete rehabilitation is mandated.

Background: Using cerebral oxygen venous saturation post-cardiac arrest (CA) is limited because of a small sample size and prior to establishment of target temperature management (TTM). We aimed to describe variations in jugular bulb oxygen saturation during intensive care in relation to neurological outcome at 6 months post- CA in cases where TTM 33 degrees C was applied. Method: Prospective observational study in patients over 18 years, comatose immediately after resuscitation from CA. Patients were treated with TTM 33 degrees C M and received a jugular bulb catheter within the first 26 hours post-CA. Neurological outcome was assessed at 6 months using the Cerebral Performance Categories (CPC) and dichotomized into good (CPC 1-2) and poor outcome (CPC 3-5). Results: Seventy-five patients were included and 37 (49%) patients survived with a good outcome at 6 months post-CA. No differences were found between patients with good outcome and poor outcome in jugular bulb oxygen saturation. Higher values were seen in differences in oxygen content between central venous oxygen saturation and jugular bulb oxygen saturation in patients with good outcome compared to patients with poor outcome at 6 hours (12 [8-21] vs 5 [-0.3 to 11]% P = .001) post-CA. Oxygen extraction fraction from the brain illustrated lower values in patients with poor outcome compared to patients with good outcome at 96 hours (14 [9-23] vs 31 [25-34]% P = .008). Conclusions: Oxygen delivery and extraction differed in patients with a good outcome compared to those with a poor outcome at single time points. Based on the present findings, the usefulness of jugular bulb oxygen saturation for prognostic purposes is uncertain in patients treated with TTM 33 degrees C post-CA.

BACKGROUND: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain including diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) is reported to have high prognostic accuracy in unconscious post-cardiac arrest (CA) patients. We documented acute MRI findings in the brain in both conscious and unconscious post-CA patients treated with target temperature management (TTM) at 32-34°C for 24 h as well as the relation to patients' neurological outcome after 6 months. METHODS: A prospective observational study with MRI was performed regardless of the level of consciousness in post-CA patients treated with TTM. Neurological outcome was assessed using the Cerebral Performance Categories scale and dichotomized into good and poor outcome. RESULTS: Forty-six patients underwent MRI at 3-5 days post-CA. Patients with good outcome had minor, mainly frontal and parietal, lesions. Acute hypoxic/ischemic lesions on MRI including DWI were more common in patients with poor outcome (P = 0.007). These lesions affected mostly gray matter (deep or cortical), with or without involvement of the underlying white matter. Lesions in the occipital and temporal lobes, deep gray matter and cerebellum showed strongest associations with poor outcome. Decreased apparent diffusion coefficient, was more common in patients with poor outcome. CONCLUSIONS: Extensive acute hypoxic/ischemic MRI lesions in the cortical regions, deep gray matter and cerebellum detected by visual analysis as well as low apparent diffusion coefficient values from quantitative measurements were associated with poor outcome. Patients with good outcome had minor hypoxic/ischemic changes, mainly in the frontal and parietal lobes.

Relationship of acute brain lesions on MRI after cardiac arrest treated with hypothermia to neurological outcome 6 months later, Purpose: To document the acute MRI findings in the brain of post-cardiac arrest (CA) patients treated with therapeutic hypothermia and their relationship to patient outcome after 6 months. Methods and Materials: MRI was performed prospectively 3-13 days (median 4) after CA in 56 patients regardless of the level of consciousness in three hospitals. The images were interpreted visually by two neuroradiologists. Apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) was measured in predetermined areas in cerebral white matter, deep grey matter, cerebellar grey and white matter and the brainstem. Outcome was assessed using the Cerebral Performance Categories Scale (CPC ) and dichotomized into good and poor outcome. Results: Acute hypoxic lesions on diffusion-weighted MRI (DWI) were more common in patients with poor outcome (p=0.006) and affected mostly grey matter, deep or cortical, with or without involvement of underlying white matter. Pure white matter lesions were very few. Lesions in the occipital and temporal lobes, deep white matter and cerebellum were most associated with poor outcome. Reductions in the ADC, particularly in the occipital lobes, were more common in patients with poor outcome. None of the patients with an ADC below 604-678 x10-6 mm2/s (variation depending on the equipment and technique) in any region survived to 6 months. Conclusion: Extensive acute lesions in cortical regions and deep grey matter in visual analysis and regions with an ADC under the level 600-680 x10-6 mm2/s are associated with poor outcome. Lesions are fewer and mainly situated in the frontal and parietal lobes in patients with good outcome.

The return to a good life after successfully resuscitated cardiac arrest may be hindered by cardiovascular morbidity, psychological distress and the consequences of anoxic brain injury. To support the return to everyday life, patients and their relatives are in need of health care follow-up with multiple focuses. Usually, this follow-up consists of at least one of three parallel tracks; cardiology for interventions and secondary prevention, post intensive care follow-up to capture and prevent consequences of the traumatic event and the ICU stay, or neurological follow-up for patients with neurological sequels. None of these tracks include all patients. In addition, survivors are usually included and followed with patient related outcome measures (PROM) through the multiple Swedish national quality registers. The different clinical follow-up systems and the registers are not coordinated and assessments and questions may be repeated multiple times. A more integrated follow-up model has the potential to benefit the patient and their relatives and to reduce costs.

The overall aim of the present thesis was to study post-resuscitation care of cardiac arrest (CA) patients treated with target temperature management 33°C with a focus on evaluation of two prognostic tools: variations in cerebral venous saturation and acute magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings on the brain post-CA. An additional aim was to investigate patients’ neurological outcome and relatives’ experiences 6 months after the event. Paper I describes the cerebral oxygen saturation of blood obtained from a jugular bulb (SjvO2) catheter The results showed that patients with poor outcome tended to have higher SjvO2values,but this difference was only significant at 96 and108 hours post-CA. The main findings of Paper II were that patients with good outcome displayed a pathological pattern mainly in the frontal and parietal lobes on MRI of the brain. Patients with poor outcome had an extensive pathological pattern in several brain regions. Furthermore, very low apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values were associated with poor outcome regardless of brain region. Paper III investigated physical and cognitive function over time, between one month and 6 months post-CA, as well as d life satisfaction at 6 months. The results showed that impairment in physical and cognitive function is common in CA survivors but tends to decrease over time. Despite a severe illness, which has impaired the physical and cognitive functions, satisfaction with life as a whole was reported by 70% of CA survivors. In Paper IV, relatives described their experiences 6 months after a significant others CA. The analysis resulted in three themes reflecting relatives’ everyday life 6 months after the event: Difficulties managing a changed life situation, Feeling like I come second and Feeling new hope for the future. In conclusion, the results of the present thesis have increased our understanding of the two prognostic tools that were investigated; they have generated new and revealed aspects tha

Aim of the study: To document the acute magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings on the brain in cardiac arrest (CA) patients treated with therapeutic hypothermia (TH) and their relation to patients’ neurological outcome after 6 months. Method: A prospective observational study with MRI was performed regardless the level of consciousness in 56 post-CA patients treated with TH. Results: MRI of the brain was obtained at a median of 4 days (3-13 days). At 6 months, 32/56 had survived with good neurological outcome. The MMSE was performed in 28/32 (88%) patients with a median of 28 (24-30). Acute ischemic lesions were found on diffusion-weighted MRI (DWI) in 34 (61%) patients and were more common in patients with poor outcome (p=0.006). Acute ischemic injuries affected mostly gray matter, deep or cortical and with or without involvement of the underlying white matter. Very few lesions were pure white matter lesions. Lesions in the occipital and temporal lobes, deep gray matter and cerebellum were most associated with poor outcome. Reductions in the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) were more common in patients with poor outcome, particularly in the occipital lobes. None of the patients with an ADC below 600x10-6 mm2/s in any region survived to 6 months. Conclusions: In visual analyses of acute MRI, extensive acute lesions were found in the cortical regions and gray matter and were associated with poor outcome. In ADC measurements, low values were associated with poor outcome. Patients with good outcome showed a minor pathological pattern mainly in the frontal and parietal lobes.

Purpose: Most cardiac arrest research has focused on survival inan out-of-hospital context. The knowledge of health and quality of life is sparse, especially regarding in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA) survivors. The aim of the current study was therefore to describe neurologic outcome, health-related quality of life (HRQoL), anxiety and symptoms of depression among IHCA survivors. Materials and methods: This study has a cross-sectional design. Data from the Swedish Register of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation was used. In the register, data is collected 3–6 months after resuscitation by using a questionnaire including two questions about activities in daily life and mental/intellectual recovery, theEQ-5D-5L and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). In addition, Cerebral Performance Category (CPC)-scoring is performed. Results: Between the 11th of June 2013 and the 7th of May 2015, 488 IHCA survivors with a mean age of 69±13 were included. A majority were men (62%), had a cerebral function of CPC 1 (87%) and no need of assistance from other people in daily life (71%). A large proportion had not made a complete mental/intellectual recovery (27%). Pain/discomfort was the dimension in EQ-5D-5L where most survivors reported problems (64%), while least problems were reported in the dimension self-care (24%). The individual variations of present health state (EQ-VAS) were substantial (range 0–100), with a mean value of 66±22. Anxiety and symptoms of depression were reported by 16% and 15% respectively. Conclusions: Although the majority of the IHCA survivors reported good neurologic outcome, satisfactory HRQoL, no anxiety or symptoms of depression, the results indicate major individual differences, with a substantial group reporting serious problems. Our findings stress the importance of structured post resuscitation care and follow-up, in order to identify and support those in need.