Effect of high-flow nasal cannula oxygen versus standard oxygen on mortality in patients with acute hypoxaemic respiratory failure: protocol for a multicentre, randomised controlled trial (SOHO).

Introduction: First-line oxygenation strategy in patients with acute hypoxaemic respiratory failure consists in standard oxygen or high-flow nasal oxygen therapy. Clinical practice guidelines suggest the use of high-flow nasal oxygen rather than standard oxygen. However, findings remain contradictory with a low level of certainty.

Non-ventilator-associated ICU-acquired pneumonia (NV-ICU-AP) in patients with acute exacerbation of COPD: From the French OUTCOMEREA cohort.

Background: Non-ventilator-associated ICU-acquired pneumonia (NV-ICU-AP), a nosocomial pneumonia that is not related to invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV), has been less studied than ventilator-associated pneumonia, and never in the context of patients in an ICU for severe acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD), a common cause of ICU admission. This study aimed to determine the factors associated with NV-ICU-AP occurrence and assess the association between NV-ICU-AP and the outcomes of these patients.

Methods: Data were extracted from the French ICU database, OutcomeRea™.

Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia in intensive care units: a multicenter study by ESGCIP and EFISG.

Background: Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PJP) is an opportunistic, life-threatening disease commonly affecting immunocompromised patients. The distribution of predisposing diseases or conditions in critically ill patients admitted to intensive care unit (ICU) and subjected to diagnostic work-up for PJP has seldom been explored.

Materials And Methods: The primary objective of the study was to describe the characteristics of ICU patients subjected to diagnostic workup for PJP.

Bench Study of a Spontaneous Breathing Trial with Different Modalities.

Background: The spontaneous breathing trial (SBT) is the final step of weaning from invasive mechanical ventilation. An SBT is aimed at predicting work of breathing (WOB) after extubation and, most importantly, a patient's eligibility for extubation. The optimal SBT modality remains debated.

Corticosteroids for severe acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in intensive care: From the French OUTCOMEREA cohort.

Introduction: Acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a frequent cause of intensive care unit (ICU) admission. However, data are scarce and conflicting regarding the impact of systemic corticosteroid treatment in critically ill patients with acute exacerbation of COPD. The aim of the study was to assess the impact of systemic corticosteroids on the occurrence of death or need for continuous invasive mechanical ventilation at day 28 after ICU admission.

Management of Acute Exacerbations of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in the ICU: An Observational Study From the OUTCOMEREA Database, 1997-2018.

Objectives: Our aim was to describe changes in the management of acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) by ICUs and patient outcomes.

Design: We extracted data from the OutcomeRea database concerning patients admitted for AECOPD between 1997 and 2018. We analyzed trends in the use of ventilatory support, corticosteroid therapy, antibiotic therapy, and patient survival.

Respiratory multiplex PCR and procalcitonin to reduce antibiotic exposure in severe SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia: a multicentre randomized controlled trial.

Objectives: We aimed at assessing the efficacy and safety on antibiotic exposure of a strategy combining a respiratory multiplex PCR (mPCR) with enlarged panel and daily procalcitonin (PCT) measurements, as compared with a conventional strategy, in adult patients who were critically ill with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia.

Methods: This multicentre, parallel-group, open-label, randomized controlled trial enrolled patients admitted to 13 intensive care units (ICUs) in France. Patients were assigned (1:1) to the control strategy, in which antibiotic streamlining remained at the discretion of the physicians, or interventional strategy, consisting of using mPCR and daily PCT measurements within the first 7 days of randomization to streamline initial antibiotic therapy, with antibiotic continuation encouraged when PCT was >1 ng/mL and discouraged if < 1 ng/mL or decreased by 80% from baseline.

Quality of life of patients with solid malignancies at 3 months after unplanned admission in the intensive care unit: A prospective case-control study.

Background: Although short- and long-term survival in critically ill patients with cancer has been described, data on their quality of life (QoL) after an intensive care unit (ICU) stay are scarce. This study aimed to determine the impact of an ICU stay on QoL assessed at 3 months in patients with solid malignancies.

Methods: A prospective case-control study was conducted in three French ICUs between February 2020 and February 2021.

Long-term variations of arterial stiffness in patients with obesity and obstructive sleep apnea treated with continuous positive airway pressure.

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with cardiovascular co-morbidities and mortality. Arterial stiffness is an independent predictor of cardiovascular risk and mortality, and is influenced by the presence of OSA and related comorbidities. There is a paucity of data regarding long-term evolution of arterial stiffness in CPAP-treated OSA patients.

The Somatotropic Axis in the Sleep Apnea-Obesity Comorbid Duo.

Growth hormone (GH) stimulates the production of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) in most tissues and together GH and IGF-1 profoundly impact adipose tissue deposition, glucose metabolism and cardiovascular function. A low serum IGF-I level has been reported as being associated with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and might be one of the mechanisms underlying cardio-metabolic risk in OSA patients. In a multicenter national study, 817 patients consulting for suspicion of OSA (OSA confirmed for 567 patients) underwent serum IGF-1 measurements.

A Comprehensive Bench Assessment of Automatic Tube Compensation in ICU Ventilators for Better Clinical Management.

Background: Automatic tube compensation (ATC) unloads endotracheal tube (ETT) resistance. We conducted a bench assessment of ATC functionality in ICU ventilators to improve clinical management.

Methods: This study had 2 phases.

Lung and chest wall mechanics in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome, expiratory flow limitation, and airway closure.

Tidal expiratory flow limitation (EFL), which may herald airway closure (AC), is a mechanism of loss of aeration in ARDS. In this prospective, short-term, two-center study, we measured static and dynamic chest wall (Est,cw and Edyn,cw) and lung (Est,L and Edyn,L) elastance with esophageal pressure, EFL, and AC at 5 cmHO positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) in intubated, sedated, and paralyzed ARDS patients. For EFL determination, we used the atmospheric method and a new device allowing comparison of tidal flow during expiration to PEEP and to atmosphere.

Impact of obstructive sleep apnea on the obesity paradox in critically ill patients.

Objective: Patients admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) frequently suffer from multiple chronic diseases, including obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Until recently OSA was not considered as a key determinant in an ICU patient's prognosis. The objective of this study was to document the impact of OSA on the prognosis of ICU patients.

Contribution of obstructive sleep apnoea to arterial stiffness: a meta-analysis using individual patient data.

Background: Arterial stiffness, measured by pulse wave velocity (PWV), is a strong independent predictor of late cardiovascular events and mortality. It is recognised that obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is associated with cardiovascular comorbidities and mortality. Although previous meta-analyses concluded that PWV is elevated in OSA, we feel that an individual patient data analysis from nine relatively homogeneous studies could help answer: to what extent does OSA drive arterial stiffness?

Methods: Individual data from well-characterised patients referred for suspicion of OSA, included in nine studies in which carotid-femoral PWV was measured using a Complior device, were merged for an individual patient data meta-analysis.

[Pathophysiology of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome and its cardiometabolic consequences].

Obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS) is characterized by recurrent partial or complete pharyngeal collapses during sleep. The pathophysiology of OSAS is complex and multifactorial. Factors influencing upper airway patency include a reduction in upper airway dimensions that can result from both anatomical and functional alterations (obesity, fluid shift or maxillo-facial structural changes), and increased pharyngeal collapsibility owing to reduced neuromuscular compensation and lack of the pharyngeal protective reflex during sleep.