ICU staffing feature phenotypes and their relationship with patients' outcomes: an unsupervised machine learning analysis.

Purpose: To study whether ICU staffing features are associated with improved hospital mortality, ICU length of stay (LOS) and duration of mechanical ventilation (MV) using cluster analysis directed by machine learning.

Methods: The following variables were included in the analysis: average bed to nurse, physiotherapist and physician ratios, presence of 24/7 board-certified intensivists and dedicated pharmacists in the ICU, and nurse and physiotherapist autonomy scores. Clusters were defined using the partition around medoids method.

Role of organisational factors on the 'weekend effect' in critically ill patients in Brazil: a retrospective cohort analysis.

Introduction: Higher mortality for patients admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) during the weekends has been occasionally reported with conflicting results that could be related to organisational factors. We investigated the effects of ICU organisational and staffing patterns on the potential association between weekend admission and outcomes in critically ill patients.

Methods: We included 59 614 patients admitted to 78 ICUs participating during 2013.

Pulmonary complications after non-cardiac surgeries: temporal patterns and risk factors.

Background: Postoperative complications are the primary determinants of survival following major surgery. We aimed to characterize the early perioperative risk factors for postoperative pulmonary complications (POPCs) in patients undergoing major non-cardiac surgeries.

Methods: This study utilized a multicenter prospective observational cohort design.

Outcomes in Critically Ill Patients with Cancer-Related Complications.

Introduction: Cancer patients are at risk for severe complications related to the underlying malignancy or its treatment and, therefore, usually require admission to intensive care units (ICU). Here, we evaluated the clinical characteristics and outcomes in this subgroup of patients.

Materials And Methods: Secondary analysis of two prospective cohorts of cancer patients admitted to ICUs.

Effects of Organizational Characteristics on Outcomes and Resource Use in Patients With Cancer Admitted to Intensive Care Units.

Purpose: To investigate the impact of organizational characteristics and processes of care on hospital mortality and resource use in patients with cancer admitted to intensive care units (ICUs).

Patients And Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study of 9,946 patients with cancer (solid, n = 8,956; hematologic, n = 990) admitted to 70 ICUs (51 located in general hospitals and 19 in cancer centers) during 2013. We retrieved patients' clinical and outcome data from an electronic ICU quality registry.

Haff disease associated with the ingestion of the freshwater fish Mylossoma duriventre (pacu-manteiga).

Haff disease associated rhabdomyolysis is correlated with the ingestion of certain freshwater fish and shellfish and is caused by an unidentified toxin. We report the case of a patient who experienced rhabdomyolysis approximately 2 hours after ingestion of the freshwater fish Mylossoma duriventre (pacu-manteiga) approximately 3 years after an outbreak had been reported in Manaus, Brazilian Amazon.

Outcomes for patients with cancer admitted to the ICU requiring ventilatory support: results from a prospective multicenter study.

Background: This study was undertaken to evaluate the clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients with cancer requiring nonpalliative ventilatory support.

Methods: This was a secondary analysis of a prospective cohort study conducted in 28 Brazilian ICUs evaluating adult patients with cancer requiring invasive mechanical ventilation (MV) or noninvasive ventilation (NIV) during the first 48 h of their ICU stay. We used logistic regression to identify the variables associated with hospital mortality.

Clinical outcomes of patients requiring ventilatory support in Brazilian intensive care units: a multicenter, prospective, cohort study.

Introduction: Contemporary information on mechanical ventilation (MV) use in emerging countries is limited. Moreover, most epidemiological studies on ventilatory support were carried out before significant developments, such as lung protective ventilation or broader application of non-invasive ventilation (NIV). We aimed to evaluate the clinical characteristics, outcomes and risk factors for hospital mortality and failure of NIV in patients requiring ventilatory support in Brazilian intensive care units (ICU).

Early determinants of death due to multiple organ failure after noncardiac surgery in high-risk patients.

Background: Prediction of perioperative cardiac complications is important in the medical management of patients undergoing noncardiac surgery. However, these patients frequently die as a consequence of primary or secondary multiple organ failure (MOF), often as a result of sepsis. We investigated the early perioperative risk factors for in-hospital death due to MOF in surgical patients.

Ventilator-associated pneumonia: epidemiology and impact on the clinical evolution of ICU patients.

Objective: Although ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is a major cause of nosocomial infection, its role in the prognosis of patients remains undefined. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of VAP on the clinical evolution of patients.

Methods: This was a prospective cohort study involving 233 patients on mechanical ventilation (VAP group, n = 64; control group, n = 169).

Predictors of hospital mortality in hemodynamically stable patients with pulmonary embolism.

Background: Pulmonary embolism is associated with high mortality in patients with hypotension or circulatory shock. However, the association between some clinical variables and mortality is still unclear in hemodynamically stable patients.

Objectives: To derive an in-hospital mortality risk stratification model in hemodynamically stable patients with pulmonary embolism.

Characteristics and outcomes of patients with cancer requiring admission to intensive care units: a prospective multicenter study.

Objective: To evaluate the characteristics and outcomes of patients with cancer admitted to several intensive care units. Knowledge on patients with cancer requiring intensive care is mostly restricted to single-center studies.

Design: : Prospective, multicenter, cohort study.

Pulmonary embolism: multicenter registry in tertiary hospitals.

Introduction: The clinical profile as well as the therapeutic and diagnostic strategies for patients with pulmonary embolism, describes clinical practice in the approach of the disease. Such information, scarce in national studies, enables a better understanding of pulmonary embolism.

Methods: A multicenter trial included 727 patients with pulmonary embolism who were admitted in emergency or intensive care unit.

Epidemiology and outcomes of non-cardiac surgical patients in Brazilian intensive care units.

Objectives: Due to the dramatic medical breakthroughs and an increasingly ageing population, the proportion of patients who are at risk of dying following surgery is increasing over time. The aim of this study was to evaluate the outcomes and the epidemiology of non-cardiac surgical patients admitted to the intensive care unit.

Methods: A multicenter, prospective, observational, cohort study was carried out in 21 intensive care units.

[Transfusion practices in brazilian Intensive Care Units (pelo FUNDO-AMIB)].

Background And Objectives: Anemia of critical illness is a multifactorial condition caused by blood loss, frequent phlebotomies and inadequate production of red blood cells (RBC). Controversy surrounds the most appropriate hemoglobin concentration "trigger" for transfusion of RBC. We aimed to evaluate transfusion practices in Brazilian ICUs.