Baricitinib in hospitalised patients with COVID-19: A meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.

Background: To date, only dexamethasone and tocilizumab have been shown to reduce mortality in patients with COVID-19. Baricitinib is a Janus kinase 1/2 inhibitor with known anti-inflammatory and anti-viral properties. We performed a meta-analysis of RCTs assessing the role of baricitinib in hospitalised patients with COVID-19.

The impact of errors on healthcare professionals in the critical care setting.

Purpose: Medical errors occur at high rates in intensive care units (ICUs) and have great consequences. The impact of errors on healthcare professionals is rarely discussed. We hypothesized that issues regarding blame and guilt following errors in the ICU exist and may be dependent on type of practitioner, level of experience, and error type.

Arterial Catheter Use in the ICU: A National Survey of Antiseptic Technique and Perceived Infectious Risk.

Objectives: Recent studies have shown that the occurrence rate of bloodstream infections associated with arterial catheters is 0.9-3.4/1,000 catheter-days, which is comparable to that of central venous catheters.

Central line placement in patients with and without prophylactic plasma.

Central line placement (CLP) is a common life-saving intervention in critically ill patients, and patients with coagulation abnormalities as identified by an abnormal international normalized ratio (INR) may receive prophylactic plasma transfusion before the procedure despite previously published data that such a practice is not efficacious. Over a 14-month period, 287 CLPs were performed in the intensive care unit. The use of plasma preprocedure in patients with an elevated INR was generally discouraged but left to the discretion of the operator.

Natriuretic peptides differentially attenuate thrombin-induced barrier dysfunction in pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells.

Previous studies have described a protective effect of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) against agonist-induced permeability in endothelial cells derived from various vascular beds. In the current study, we assessed the effects of the three natriuretic peptides on thrombin-induced barrier dysfunction in rat lung microvascular endothelial cells (LMVEC). Both ANP and brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) attenuated the effect of thrombin on increased endothelial monolayer permeability and significantly enhanced the rate of barrier restoration.