Publications by authors named "F. Taccone"

Background And Objectives: The pharmacokinetics (PK) of piperacillin/tazobactam (PIP/TAZ) is highly variable across different patient populations and there are controversies regarding non-linear elimination as well as the fraction unbound of PIP (f). This has led to a plethora of subgroup-specific models, increasing the risk of misusing published models when optimising dosing regimens. In this study, we aimed to develop a single model to simultaneously describe the PK of PIP/TAZ in diverse patient populations and evaluate the current dosing recommendations by predicting the PK/pharmacodynamics (PD) target attainment throughout life.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Acute brain injury (ABI) remains one of the leading causes of death and disability world-wide. Its treatment is challenging due to the heterogeneity of the mechanisms involved and the variability among individuals. This systematic review aims at evaluating the impact of anti-histone treatments on outcomes in ABI patients and experimental animals and defining the trend of nucleosome levels in biological samples post injury.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the 2021 ERC/ESICM algorithm in predicting neurological outcomes for cardiac arrest survivors in intensive care.
  • A total of 337 patients were examined, with the algorithm successfully identifying all 175 patients predicted to have poor neurological outcomes and showing high specificity for various predictive tools like EEG and clinical examination.
  • For patients with uncertain outcomes, favorable indicators could help predict positive recovery, providing valuable guidance in prognosis and treatment decisions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: We determined the relationships between cytokine expression in sputum and clinical data to characterize and understand chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbations in people with COPD.

Methods: We measured 30 cytokines in 936 sputum samples, collected at stable state and exacerbation visits from 99 participants in the Acute Exacerbation and Respiratory InfectionS in COPD (AERIS) study (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01360398).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

In patients with septic shock, compensatory tachycardia initially serves to maintain adequate cardiac output and tissue oxygenation but may persist despite appropriate fluid and vasopressor resuscitation. This sustained elevation in heart rate and altered heart rate variability, indicative of autonomic dysfunction, is a well-established independent predictor of adverse outcomes in critical illness. Elevated heart rate exacerbates myocardial oxygen demand, reduces ventricular filling time, compromises coronary perfusion during diastole, and impairs the isovolumetric relaxation phase of the cardiac cycle, contributing to ventricular-arterial decoupling.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Transpulmonary pressure calculation typically requires esophageal pressure, which is a complicated process to calibrate.
  • A new digital filter that removes heartbeat noise from central venous pressure (CVP) waveforms, resulting in a filtered CVP (f-CVP), was developed to simplify this measurement.
  • In this study, f-CVP was evaluated and found to estimate esophageal respiratory swings more accurately than CVP alone and effectively identify high transpulmonary pressure levels in patients with acute respiratory failure.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The objective of this animal study was to evaluate the hemodynamic performance of a new centrifugal pump for extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) support in neonates.

Methods: Six healthy swines were supported with veno-venous ECMO with the New Born ECMOLife centrifugal pump (Eurosets, Medolla, Italy) at different flow rates: 0.25, 0.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: In this retrospective study, we report the effectiveness and safety of a dedicated extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal (ECCOR) device in critically ill patients.

Methods: Adult patients on mechanical ventilation due to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) or decompensated chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (dCOPD), who were treated with a dedicated ECCOR device (CO2RESET, Eurosets, Medolla, Italy) in case of hypercapnic acidemia, were included. Repeated measurements of CO removal (VCO) at baseline and 1, 12, and 24 h after the initiation of therapy were recorded.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Guidelines suggest maintaining normal carbon dioxide levels for adults in a coma resuscitated from cardiac arrest, but mild higher levels may help increase brain blood flow and improve outcomes.
  • In a study involving 1,700 patients, participants were randomly assigned to either mild hypercapnia or normocapnia for 24 hours and were assessed 6 months later for neurologic recovery.
  • Results showed no significant difference in favorable neurological outcomes or mortality between the two groups, indicating that mild hypercapnia did not improve recovery compared to normal levels.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study analyzed data from over 689,000 hospitalized COVID-19 patients across 52 countries from January 2020 to January 2022, examining demographic characteristics, symptoms, co-morbidities, and treatment outcomes.
  • Key findings indicate that older age and male sex significantly increased the risk of death, with the hazard ratio for age being 1.49 per 10 years, while the case-fatality ratio averaged 21.5% and varied by country.
  • The research highlights that age is the primary risk factor for mortality, with significant associations found for co-morbidities, smoking, and obesity, providing valuable insights for clinical strategies to address COVID-19.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose Of Review: To describe the available neuromonitoring tools in patients who are comatose after resuscitation from cardiac arrest because of hypoxic-ischemic brain injury (HIBI).

Recent Findings: Electroencephalogram (EEG) is useful for detecting seizures and guiding antiepileptic treatment. Moreover, specific EEG patterns accurately identify patients with irreversible HIBI.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: Target temperature management (TTM) is often used in patients after cardiac arrest, but the effects of cooling on cerebral microcirculation, oxygenation and metabolism are poorly understood. We studied the time course of these variables in a healthy swine model.

Methods: Fifteen invasively monitored, mechanically ventilated pigs were allocated to sham procedure (normothermia, NT; = 5), cooling (hypothermia, HT, = 5) or cooling with controlled oxygenation (HT-Oxy, = 5).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Overview: The use of extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) therapy to treat severe COVID-19 patients with acute respiratory failure is increasing worldwide. We reported herein the use of veno-venous ECMO in a patient with cold agglutinin haemolytic anaemia (CAHA) who suffered from severe COVID-19 infection.

Description: A 64-year-old man presented to the emergency department (ED) with incremental complaints of dyspnoea and cough since one week.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The use of processed electroencephalography (pEEG) for depth of sedation (DOS) monitoring is increasing in anesthesia; however, how to use of this type of monitoring for critical care adult patients within the intensive care unit (ICU) remains unclear.

Methods: A multidisciplinary panel of international experts consisting of 21 clinicians involved in monitoring DOS in ICU patients was carefully selected on the basis of their expertise in neurocritical care and neuroanesthesiology. Panelists were assigned four domains (techniques for electroencephalography [EEG] monitoring, patient selection, use of the EEG monitors, competency, and training the principles of pEEG monitoring) from which a list of questions and statements was created to be addressed.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Non-convulsive seizures and status epilepticus are frequent and associated with increased mortality in septic patients. However, the mechanism through which seizures impact outcome in these patients is unclear. As previous studies yielded an alteration of neurovascular coupling (NVC) during sepsis, we hypothesized that non-convulsive seizures, might further impair NVC, leading to brain tissue hypoxia.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

In this study, we examined the early value of automated quantitative pupillary examination, using the Neurological Pupil index (NPi), to predict the long-term outcome of acute brain injured (ABI) patients. We performed a single-centre retrospective study (October 2016−March 2019) in ABI patients who underwent NPi measurement during the first 3 days following brain insult. We examined the performance of NPi—alone or in combination with other baseline demographic (age) and radiologic (CT midline shift) predictors—to prognosticate unfavourable 6-month outcome (Glasgow Outcome Scale 1−3).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Whether the treatment of rhythmic and periodic electroencephalographic (EEG) patterns in comatose survivors of cardiac arrest improves outcomes is uncertain.

Methods: We conducted an open-label trial of suppressing rhythmic and periodic EEG patterns detected on continuous EEG monitoring in comatose survivors of cardiac arrest. Patients were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to a stepwise strategy of antiseizure medications to suppress this activity for at least 48 consecutive hours plus standard care (antiseizure-treatment group) or to standard care alone (control group); standard care included targeted temperature management in both groups.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Due to the large number of patients with severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), many were treated outside the traditional walls of the intensive care unit (ICU), and in many cases, by personnel who were not trained in critical care. The clinical characteristics and the relative impact of caring for severe COVID-19 patients outside the ICU is unknown. This was a multinational, multicentre, prospective cohort study embedded in the International Severe Acute Respiratory and Emerging Infection Consortium World Health Organization COVID-19 platform.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Oxygen (O) toxicity remains a concern, particularly to the lung. This is mainly related to excessive production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Supplemental O, i.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Targeted temperature management is recommended for patients after cardiac arrest, but the supporting evidence is of low certainty.

Methods: In an open-label trial with blinded assessment of outcomes, we randomly assigned 1900 adults with coma who had had an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest of presumed cardiac or unknown cause to undergo targeted hypothermia at 33°C, followed by controlled rewarming, or targeted normothermia with early treatment of fever (body temperature, ≥37.8°C).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Intoxication with Patent Blue V [sodium compound of (diethylamino-4-phenyl)(hydroxy-5-disulfo-2,4-phenyl) methanol] can lead to high levels of methemoglobin and metabolic acidosis. In severe cases and if not rapidly eliminated from the plasma, this can lead to multiple organ failure and death.

Case Report: A 27-year-old Asian woman (original from Vietnam) was admitted after ecstasy intoxication resulting in multi-organ failure (acute respiratory distress syndrome, metabolic acidosis, capillary leakage syndrome, renal failure, shock refractory to standard resuscitation).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

There is a persistent debate on the optimal target temperature to use during cooling procedures in cardiac arrest survivors. A large randomized clinical trial (RCT) including more than 900 patients showed that targeted temperature management (TTM) at 33 °C had similar mortality and unfavorable neurological outcome (UO) rates as TTM at 36 °C in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients with any initial rhythm. Since then, several observational studies have been published on the effects of changes in target temperature (i.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF