Delirium and encephalopathy in severe COVID-19: a cohort analysis of ICU patients.

Background: Neurotropism of SARS-CoV-2 and its neurological manifestations have now been confirmed. We aimed at describing delirium and neurological symptoms of COVID-19 in ICU patients.

Methods: We conducted a bicentric cohort study in two French ICUs of Strasbourg University Hospital.

A randomized trial of supplemental parenteral nutrition in underweight and overweight critically ill patients: the TOP-UP pilot trial.

Background: Nutrition guidelines recommendations differ on the use of parenteral nutrition (PN), and existing clinical trial data are inconclusive. Our recent observational data show that amounts of energy/protein received early in the intensive care unit (ICU) affect patient mortality, particularly for inadequate nutrition intake in patients with body mass indices (BMIs) of <25 or >35. Thus, we hypothesized increased nutrition delivery via supplemental PN (SPN) + enteral nutrition (EN) to underweight and obese ICU patients would improve 60-day survival and quality of life (QoL) versus usual care (EN alone).

Bedside ultrasound is a practical and reliable measurement tool for assessing quadriceps muscle layer thickness.

Background: Critically ill patients commonly experience skeletal muscle wasting that may predict clinical outcome. Ultrasound is a noninvasive method that can measure muscle quadriceps muscle layer thickness (QMLT) and subsequently lean body mass (LBM) at the bedside. However, currently the reliability of these measurements are unknown.

HPLC/MS findings in a fatality involving sustained-release verapamil.

A fatality involving verapamil, a calcium channel blocker agent, is presented. A 51-year old male ingested 7200 mg of sustained-release (SR) verapamil at T0 and died 40 hours later of refractory, mixed shock and multiorgan failure. The symptoms displayed during hospitalization were quite typical and involved altered consciousness, hypotension, bradycardia, atrioventricular block, metabolic acidosis and renal failure.