Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome in Patients with Cardiovascular Disease.

Heart and lung interaction within the thoracic cavity is well known during inhalation and exhalation, both spontaneously and during mechanical ventilation. Disease and dysfunction of one organ affect the function of the other. A review of the cause-and-effect relationship between cardiovascular disease and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is of significance, as the disease burden of both conditions has both a national and global impact on health care.

Integrating a Virtual ICU with Cardiac and Cardiovascular ICUs: Managing the Needs of a Complex and High-Acuity Specialty ICU Cohort.

A long-standing shortage of critical care intensivists and nurses, exacerbated by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, has led to an accelerated adoption of tele-critical care in the United States (US). Due to their complex and high-acuity nature, cardiac, cardiovascular, and cardiothoracic intensive care units (ICUs) have generally been limited in their ability to leverage tele-critical care resources. In early 2020, Houston Methodist Hospital (HMH) launched its tele-critical care program called Virtual ICU, or vICU, to improve its ICU staffing efficiency while providing high-quality, continuous access to in-person and virtual intensivists and critical care nurses.

Immediate Postoperative Management of Cardiac Surgery Patients.

Cardiac surgery is quite common in the United States. Outcomes after cardiac surgery are not only dependent on how the surgery went and how the anesthesia care was provided intraoperatively but also on the optimal management in the postoperative critical care setting. It is of paramount importance that the cardiac intensivist has a comprehensive understanding of cardiopulmonary physiology and the sequelae of cardiopulmonary bypass.

Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation for COVID-19: Collaborative Experience From the Texas Medical Center in Houston With 2 Years Follow-Up.

Patients with severe refractory hypoxemic respiratory failure may benefit from extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) for salvage therapy. The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic offered three high-volume independent ECMO programs at a large medical center the chance to collaborate to optimize ECMO care at the beginning of the pandemic in Spring 2020. Between March 15, 2020, and May 30, 2020, 3,615 inpatients with COVID-19 were treated at the Texas Medical Center.

Evaluation of Neuromuscular Blockade Reversal on Postoperative Mechanical Ventilation Time in a Cardiovascular Surgery Population.

Objective: To report on postoperative outcomes related to the administration of neostigmine for reversal of nondepolarizing neuromuscular blocking agents in cardiovascular surgery patients, with a specific focus on the duration of postoperative mechanical ventilation as the primary endpoint.

Design: A retrospective cohort study design was followed to achieve the study objectives.

Setting: This was a single-center, chart review study conducted at a large academic medical center of adult patients post-cardiovascular surgery.

The Role and Impact of Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation in Critical Care.

Use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has been exponentially increasing over the last decade and is now considered a mainstream lifesaving treatment modality in critical care medicine. However, the need for physician education, training, and experience remains imperative. Although ECMO has traditionally been used in end-stage lung disease and circulatory collapse, it is being adopted for use in right heart failure, as a bridge to heart and lung transplantation, and as rescue therapy for both sepsis and post-organ transplantation.

How New Support Devices Change Critical Care Delivery.

Mechanical support devices are used to support failing cardiac, respiratory, or both systems. Since Gibbon developed the cardiopulmonary bypass in 1953, collaborative efforts by medical centers, bioengineers, industry, and the National Institutes of Health have led to development of mechanical devices to support heart, lung, or both. These devices are used as a temporary or long-term measures for acute collapse of circulatory system and/or respiratory failure.