Appropriateness of intravenous fluid prescriptions in hospitalised patients: a point prevalence study.

Background: Inappropriate use of intravenous (IV) fluids results in fluid overload, electrolyte disturbances, and increased costs.

Aim: To describe IV fluid prescribing and its appropriateness in hospitalised patients.

Method: A point prevalence study was conducted at two sites (academic and general) of a tertiary care hospital in Belgium.

Diagnostic Value of Serum Biomarkers for Invasive Aspergillosis in Haematologic Patients.

Background: Invasive aspergillosis (IA) is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with haematological malignancies. Accurate diagnosis of IA is challenging due to non-specific symptoms and the impact of antifungal prophylaxis on biomarker sensitivity.

Methods: This retrospective study evaluated the diagnostic performance of three serum biomarkers: Galactomannan Ag VirClia Monotest (VirClia), Wako β-D-Glucan Test (Wako BDG), and MycoGENIE Real-Time PCR (MycoGENIE PCR).

"A decade of candidaemia: A comprehensive analysis of prognosis and risk factors at a Belgian tertiary hospital".

Candidemia, predominantly caused by C. albicans, poses a significant threat in hospitals. Yet, non-albicans candidemia (NAC) and antifungal resistance are increasing concerns.

Adsorptive therapies in sepsis and inflammation: description of the various adsorptive techniques and their failure to improve outcomes.

Blood purification as an adjunctive therapy has been studied for several decades. In this review, we will focus on the most recent studies, particularly on adsorption techniques. These include hemofilters with adsorptive membranes, both endotoxin-specific and non-specific.

Strain echocardiography in a sepsis-induced cardiomyopathy.

Sepsis-induced cardiomyopathy represents a challenging disorder for critical care practitioners in terms of diagnosis, monitoring and treatment. Strain echocardiography may help to identify ventricular dysfunction at precocious stage in critically ill patients. In this manuscript, we describe early impairment in left ventricular systolic function using speckle-tracking echocardiography.

Reduced anticoagulation targets in extracorporeal life support (RATE): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Although life-saving in selected patients, ECMO treatment still has high mortality which for a large part is due to treatment-related complications. A feared complication is ischemic stroke for which heparin is routinely administered for which the dosage is usually guided by activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT). However, there is no relation between aPTT and the rare occurrence of ischemic stroke (1.

Monitoring of Unfractionated Heparin Therapy in the Intensive Care Unit Using a Point-of-Care aPTT: A Comparative, Longitudinal Observational Study with Laboratory-Based aPTT and Anti-Xa Activity Measurement.

Continuous intravenous unfractionated heparin (UFH) is administered routinely in the intensive care unit (ICU) for the anticoagulation of patients, and monitoring is performed by the activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) or anti-Xa activity. However, these strategies are associated with potentially large time intervals before dose adjustments, which could be detrimental to the patient. The aim of the study was to compare a point-of-care (POCT) version of the APTT to (i) laboratory-based APTT and (ii) measurements of anti-Xa activity in terms of correlation, agreement and turnaround time (TAT).

Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis in solid-organ transplant patients in the intensive care unit.

Introduction: Solid-organ transplantation (SOT) is a well-known risk factor for invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA). We report on the epidemiology and outcome of SOT patients with IPA in an intensive care unit (ICU) setting.

Methods: This is a secondary study based on a subset of SOT patients from a prospective observational multicenter cohort (the AspICU project) including ICU patients with at least one Aspergillus spp.

The Influence of Geography, Religion, Religiosity and Institutional Factors on Worldwide End-of-Life Care for the Critically Ill: The WELPICUS Study.

Objective: To evaluate the association between provider religion and religiosity and consensus about end-of-life care and explore if geographical and institutional factors contribute to variability in practice.

Methods: Using a modified Delphi method 22 end-of-life issues consisting of 35 definitions and 46 statements were evaluated in 32 countries in North America, South America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia, Australia and South Africa. A multidisciplinary, expert group from specialties treating patients at the end-of-life within each participating institution assessed the association between 7 key statements and geography, religion, religiosity and institutional factors likely influencing the development of consensus.

Prothrombotic hemostasis disturbances in patients with severe COVID-19: Individual daily data.

This data article accompanies the manuscript entitled: "Prothrombotic Disturbances of hemostasis of Patients with Severe COVID-19: a Prospective Longitudinal Observational Cohort Study" submitted to by the same authors. We report temporal changes of plasma levels of an extended set of laboratory parameters during the ICU stay of the 21 COVID-19 patients included in the monocentre cohort: CRP, platelet count, prothrombin time; Clauss fibrinogen and clotting factors II, V and VIII levels, D-dimers, antithrombin activity, protein C, free protein S, total and free tissue factor pathway inhibitor, PAI-1 levels, von Willebrand factor antigen and activity, ADAMTS-13 (plasma levels); and of two integrative tests of coagulation (thrombin generation with ST Genesia) and fibrinolysis (global fibrinolytic capacity - GFC). Regarding hemostasis, we used double-centrifuged frozen citrated plasma prospectively collected after daily performance of usual coagulation tests.

Invasive Pulmonary Aspergillosis in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Exacerbations.

Nowadays, reports in the literature support that patients with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are at higher risk to develop invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA). However, the interpretation of -positive cultures from the airways in critically ill COPD is still a challenge. Indeed, as the patient could be merely colonized, tissue samples are required to ascertain IPA diagnosis but they are rarely obtained before death.

Elderly versus nonelderly patients with invasive aspergillosis in the ICU: a comparison and risk factor analysis for mortality from the AspICU cohort.

Data regarding the epidemiology and diagnosis of invasive aspergillosis in the critically ill population are limited, with data regarding elderly patients (≥75 years old) even scarcer. We aimed to further compare the epidemiology, characteristics and outcome of elderly versus nonelderly critically ill patients with invasive aspergillosis (IA) Prospective, international, multicenter observational study (AspICU) including adult intensive care unit (ICU) patients, with a culture and/or direct examination and/or histopathological sample positive for Aspergillus spp. at any site.

Drivers and impact of antifungal therapy in critically ill patients with Aspergillus-positive respiratory tract cultures.

Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) is an increasingly recognised problem in critically ill patients. Little is known about how intensivists react to an Aspergillus-positive respiratory sample or the efficacy of antifungal therapy (AFT). This study aimed to identify drivers of AFT prescription and diagnostic workup in patients with Aspergillus isolation in respiratory specimens as well as the impact of AFT in these patients.

Endomyocardial and pericardial aspergillosis in critically ill patients.

Invasive aspergillosis(IA) is a potentially lethal complication of Aspergillus infection affecting mainly immunocompromised hosts; however, during the last two decades its incidence was increasingly observed in critically ill immunocompetent patients. The objective of this study is to describe the clinical characteristics of histologically proven endomyocardial and pericardial invasion, in the context of IA, in critically ill patients. Eight critically ill patients with histopathological confirmation of endomyocardial/pericardial aspergillosis were evaluated.