Publications by authors named "Nikitas Karavidas"

Article Synopsis
  • Critically ill patients in the ICU often develop new-onset atrial fibrillation (NOAF), which is linked to higher mortality rates; however, it's not clear if NOAF is a sign of illness severity or a direct cause of worse outcomes.
  • The study analyzed 685 mechanically ventilated patients over three years to identify the incidence of NOAF and its relationship with mortality, particularly focusing on those without preexisting conditions that predispose them to the condition.
  • Results showed that 16.1% of patients developed NOAF, primarily due to septic episodes, with older age and a history of hypertension also contributing, indicating that sepsis is a major independent factor associated with the onset of NOAF.
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Background: Sepsis is a life-threatening organ dysfunction, and septic cardiomyopathy (SCM) may complicate the course of the disease. Infection with multidrug-resistant (MDR) pathogens has been linked with worse outcomes. This study aims to evaluate SCM in patients with infections caused by different antimicrobial-resistant phenotypes.

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Background: Cardiac injury is frequently reported in COVID-19 patients, the right ventricle (RV) is mostly affected. We systematically evaluated the cardiac function and longitudinal changes in severe COVID-19 acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) and assessed the impact on survival.

Methods: We prospectively performed comprehensive echocardiographic analysis on mechanically ventilated COVID-19 ARDS patients, using 2D/3D echocardiography.

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Prone position (PP) has been widely used in patients under mechanical ventilation for COVID-19 acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), usually for many hours per day. Complications are not rare, although most of them are mild. To our knowledge, we report the first case of enterocutaneous fistula after prolonged use of PP in the literature.

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Background: Data on risk factors associated with mechanical ventilation (MV) weaning failure among SARS-CoV2 ARDS patients is limited. We aimed to determine clinical characteristics associated with weaning outcome in SARS-CoV2 ARDS patients under MV.

Objectives: To determine potential risk factors for weaning outcome in patients with SARS-CoV2 ARDS.

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Objectives: COVID-19 associated arterial thrombosis has been attributed to multiple inflammation and coagulation mechanisms. The aim of this study was to report the experience of a tertiary center on COVID-19 patients managed for acute peripheral arterial thrombosis.

Methods: A single-center case series was conducted, including retrospectively collected data from all COVID-19 patients presenting arterial thrombosis, from March 2020 to February 2022.

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Importance: Although vaccination substantially reduces the risk of severe COVID-19, it is yet unknown whether vaccinated patients who develop COVID-19 and require invasive mechanical ventilation have lower mortality than controls.

Objective: To examine the association between COVID-19 vaccination status and mortality among critically ill patients who require invasive mechanical ventilation owing to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) related to COVID-19.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This multicenter cohort study was performed between June 7, 2021, and February 1, 2022, among 265 consecutive adult patients with COVID-19 in academic intensive care units who underwent invasive mechanical ventilation owing to ARDS.

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Background: Cardiac arrhythmias, mainly atrial fibrillation (AF), is frequently reported in COVID-19 patients, more often in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) patients, yet causality has not been virtually explored. Moreover, non-Covid ICU patients frequently present AF, sepsis being the major trigger. We aimed to examine whether sepsis or other factors-apart from Covid-19 myocardial involvement-contribute to elicit New Onset AF (NOAF) in intubated ICU patients.

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Cardiac manifestations and angiographic characteristics of coronary artery disease in identical twins have been previously dealt with in a handful of case reports and series; yet, the results were highly controversial. Our rare case demonstrates striking similarities in both the timing and type of clinical manifestation, as well as in the underlying anatomy and the distribution of coronary artery disease. When premature coronary artery disease is found in one of a monozygotic twin pair, evaluating the other twin is a reasonable approach.

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