Validation of Pediatric Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (pSOFA) Scores to Predict Critical Events in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.

Objective: To determine the prognostic value of the Pediatric Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (pSOFA) to discriminate critical events, including code events and intubations, in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU).

Methods: We performed an observational cohort study of all critical events in a quaternary care PICU between 5/2020 and 4/2023. Critical events were extracted from our hospital communications platform and from the electronic health record (EHR).

The Pediatric Data Science and Analytics Subgroup of the Pediatric Acute Lung Injury and Sepsis Investigators Network: Use of Supervised Machine Learning Applications in Pediatric Critical Care Medicine Research.

Objective: Perform a scoping review of supervised machine learning in pediatric critical care to identify published applications, methodologies, and implementation frequency to inform best practices for the development, validation, and reporting of predictive models in pediatric critical care.

Design: Scoping review and expert opinion.

Setting: We queried CINAHL Plus with Full Text (EBSCO), Cochrane Library (Wiley), Embase (Elsevier), Ovid Medline, and PubMed for articles published between 2000 and 2022 related to machine learning concepts and pediatric critical illness.

Novel approaches to capturing and using continuous cardiorespiratory physiological data in hospitalized children.

Continuous cardiorespiratory physiological monitoring is a cornerstone of care in hospitalized children. The data generated by monitoring devices coupled with machine learning could transform the way we provide care. This scoping review summarizes existing evidence on novel approaches to continuous cardiorespiratory monitoring in hospitalized children.

Practicing What We Preach: An Effort to Improve Safe Sleep of Hospitalized Infants.

Introduction: To prevent sudden unexpected infant death, pediatric providers recommend the ABCs of infant sleep: Alone, on the Back, and in an empty Crib. This study's objective was to document sleep practices of infants admitted to a large children's hospital, examine adherence to American Academy of Pediatrics safe sleep guidelines, and develop interventions to improve guideline adherence.

Methods: We conducted a pre/post quality improvement study at a single quaternary care medical center from 2015 to 2019.

Missed Opportunities: Healthcare Encounters Prior to Sudden Unexpected Infant Death.

Introduction: Sudden unexpected infant death (SUID) is the leading cause of death in children 28 days to 1 year of age. The study aim was to identify opportunities for healthcare professionals to provide families with education on sleep and prevention of SUID.

Methods: We performed a retrospective chart review of SUID infants over 10 years (12/2010-12/2020).

Multiple Organ Dysfunction Interactions in Critically Ill Children.

Introduction: Multiple organ dysfunction (MOD) is a common pathway to morbidity and death in critically ill children. Defining organ dysfunction is challenging, as we lack a complete understanding of the complex pathobiology. Current pediatric organ dysfunction criteria assign the same diagnostic value-the same "weight"- to each organ system.

Virtual Reality in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit: Patient Emotional and Physiologic Responses.

Context: Patients in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) are limited in their ability to engage in developmentally typical activity. Long-term hospitalization, especially with minimal interpersonal engagement, is associated with risk for delirium and delayed recovery. Virtual reality (VR) has growing evidence as a safe, efficacious, and acceptable intervention for pain and distress management in the context of uncomfortable healthcare procedures, and for enhancing engagement in, and improving outcomes of rehabilitation therapy.

Association Between Heart Rate Variability and Inflammatory Biomarkers in Critically Ill Children.

Objectives: The autonomic nervous system (ANS) can both modulate and be modulated by the inflammatory response during critical illness. We aimed to determine whether heart rate variability (HRV), a measure of ANS function, is associated with proinflammatory biomarker levels in critically ill children.

Design: Two cohorts were analyzed.

Autonomic Nervous System Dysfunction Is Associated With Re-hospitalization in Pediatric Septic Shock Survivors.

Re-hospitalization after sepsis can lead to impaired quality of life. Predictors of re-hospitalization could help identify sepsis survivors who may benefit from targeted interventions. Our goal was to determine whether low heart rate variability (HRV), a measure of autonomic nervous system dysfunction, is associated with re-hospitalization in pediatric septic shock survivors.

Vitamin therapy in sepsis.

Vitamins are essential micronutrients with key roles in many biological pathways relevant to sepsis. Some of these relevant biological mechanisms include antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, protein and hormone synthesis, energy generation, and regulation of gene transcription. Moreover, relative vitamin deficiencies in plasma are common during sepsis and vitamin therapy has been associated with improved outcomes in some adult and pediatric studies.

Impact of an untrained CPR Coach in simulated pediatric cardiopulmonary arrest: A pilot study.

Aim: To determine if an untrained cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) Coach, with no access to real-time CPR feedback technology, improves CPR quality.

Methods: This was a prospective randomized pilot study at a tertiary care children's hospital that aimed to integrate an untrained CPR Coach into resuscitation teams during simulated pediatric cardiac arrest. Simulation events were randomized to two arms: control (no CPR Coach) or intervention (CPR Coach).

Development of a Heart Rate Variability Risk Score to Predict Organ Dysfunction and Death in Critically Ill Children.

Objectives: Determine whether the Heart Rate Variability Dysfunction score, a novel age-normalized measure of autonomic nervous system dysregulation, is associated with the development of new or progressive multiple organ dysfunction syndrome or death in critically ill children.

Design, Setting, And Patients: This was a retrospective, observational cohort study from 2012 to 2018. Patients admitted to the PICU with at least 12 hours of continuous heart rate data available from bedside monitors during the first 24 hours of admission were included in the analysis.

Dexmedetomidine leading to profound bradycardia in a pediatric liver transplant recipient.

Dexmedetomidine, an α -agonist, is used in the PICU for its sedative properties as it minimally affects respiratory status. However, hemodynamic instability is one of its known side effects. There is limited published experience with its use in pediatric liver transplant.

An Innovative Virtual Reality Experience in the PICU: A Pilot Study.

Objectives: Patients in the PICU frequently have limitations that impede independent interactions with their environment. Virtual reality is an immersive experience that may improve outcomes in critically ill children. The objective of this study was to assess feasibility and satisfaction with virtual reality.

7 Is the New 8: Improving Adherence to Restrictive PRBC Transfusions in the Pediatric ICU.

Up to 30%-40% of children admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) have anemia, and approximately 15% receive packed red blood cell (pRBC) transfusions. Current literature supports a pRBC transfusion threshold of hemoglobin less than or equal to seven for most PICU patients. Our objective was to determine pRBC transfusion rates, assess compliance with transfusion guidelines, understand patient-level variables that affect transfusion practices, and use cross-industry innovation to implement a practice strategy.

Autonomic Nervous System Dysfunction in Pediatric Sepsis.

The autonomic nervous system (ANS) plays a major role in maintaining homeostasis through key adaptive responses to stress, including severe infections and sepsis. The ANS-mediated processes most relevant during sepsis include regulation of cardiac output and vascular tone, control of breathing and airway resistance, inflammation and immune modulation, gastrointestinal motility and digestion, and regulation of body temperature. ANS dysfunction (ANSD) represents an imbalanced or maladaptive response to injury and is prevalent in pediatric sepsis.

Rechallenging With Intrathecal Methotrexate After Developing Subacute Neurotoxicity in Children With Hematologic Malignancies.

Methotrexate is associated with neurologic side effects. It is recommended that patients who developed neurotoxicity be rechallenged with methotrexate, but little is known about the safety of this approach. We performed a chart review to identify patients who received high-dose or intrathecal (IT) methotrexate.

Rape Myths, Rape Scripts, and Common Rape Experiences of College Women: Differences in Perceptions of Women Who Have Been Raped.

Rape is prevalent at colleges. Although research suggests commonalities across many college women's rape experiences (e.g.