Using automatic speckle tracking imaging to measure diaphragm excursion and predict the outcome of mechanical ventilation weaning.

Introduction: The speckle tracking ultrasound is an innovative technology enabling distinct assessment of diaphragmatic movement, yet the relative data are scarce. In this pilot study, we sought to evaluate the predictive value of the weaning outcome of automatic speckle tracking in assessing diaphragm excursion.

Methods: This is a prospective, multicenter, observational study.

Changes of cardiac output and velocity time integral in blood return at the end of renal replacement therapy predict fluid responsiveness in critically Ill patients with acute circulatory failure.

Objectives: To observe if blood return, also defined as the blood infusion test (BIT) could predict fluid responsiveness in critically ill patients with acute circulatory failure and renal replacement therapy (RRT).

Methods: This was a single-center, prospective, diagnostic accuracy study. Before BIT, the passive leg raise test (PLRT) was performed to record the change of cardiac output (ΔCO) by pulse contour analysis, and ΔCO >  = 10% was defined as the fluid responder.

Red blood cell distribution width: A severity indicator in patients with COVID-19.

Red blood cell distribution width (RDW) was frequently assessed in COVID-19 infection and reported to be associated with adverse outcomes. However, there was no consensus regarding the optimal cutoff value for RDW. Records of 98 patients with COVID-19 from the First People's Hospital of Jingzhou were reviewed.

Utilizing reclassification to explore characteristics and prognosis of KDIGO AKI subgroups: a retrospective analysis of a multicenter prospective cohort study.

Background: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is widespread in the intensive care unit (ICU) and affects patient prognosis. According to Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) guidelines, the absolute and relative increases of serum creatinine (Scr) are classified into the same stage. Whether the prognosis of the two types of patients is similar in the ICU remains unclear.

Diagnosing scrub typhus without eschar: a case report using metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS).

Scrub typhus is a disease caused by the bacteria, , which is spread to people through the bites of infected larval mites. Symptoms include eschar at the place of infection, as well as many flu-like symptoms, e.g.

Association between Prognostic Nutritional Index and Contrast-Associated Acute Kidney Injury in Patients Complicated with Chronic Kidney Disease and Coronary Artery Disease.

Background: Contrast-associated acute kidney injury (CA-AKI) is a major adverse effect of coronary angiography (CAG). Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and coronary artery disease (CAD) are at high risk of CA-AKI. This study aimed to investigate the association between prognostic nutritional index (PNI) and CA-AKI in this high-risk population.

Nutritional screening based on objective indices at admission predicts in-hospital mortality in patients with COVID-19.

Background: Could nutritional status serve as prognostic factors for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)? The present study evaluated the clinical and nutritional characteristics of COVID-19 patients and explored the relationship between risk for malnutrition at admission and in-hospital mortality.

Methods: A retrospective, observational study was conducted in two hospitals in Hubei, China. Confirmed cases of COVID-19 were typed as mild/moderate, severe, or critically ill.

Transcriptome sequencing reveals differential expression of circRNAs in sepsis induced acute respiratory distress syndrome.

circRNAs play important roles in regulating gene expression at both transcriptional and post transcriptional levels and involve in a variety of human diseases. But up to now, it is still unclear whether circRNAs are involved in the occurrence and development of sepsis induced acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). In the present research, we collected lung tissues of sepsis induced ARDS patients (n = 3) and brain dead patients without ARDS (n = 3).

Predictive Value of Prognostic Nutritional Index on COVID-19 Severity.

The prognostic nutritional index (PNI) has been described as a simple risk-stratified tool for several diseases. We explored the predictive role of the PNI on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) severity. A total of 101 patients with COVID-19 were included in this retrospective study from January 2020 to March 2020.

Prognostic value of central venous-to-arterial carbon dioxide difference in patients with bloodstream infection.

Bloodstream infection (BSI) are prone to circulation disorders, which portend poor outcome. The central venous-to-arterial carbon dioxide difference (Pcv-aCO) is a biomarker for circulation disorders, but the prognostic value of Pcv-aCO in BSI patients remains unclear. This study was to investigate the association of Pcv-aCO with adverse events in BSI patients.

The Prevalence, Risk Factors, and Outcomes of Sepsis in Critically Ill Patients in China: A Multicenter Prospective Cohort Study.

Sepsis is a main cause of morbidity and mortality in critically ill patients. The epidemiology of sepsis in high-income countries is well-known, but information on sepsis in middle- or low-income countries is still deficient, especially in China. The purpose of this study was to explore the prevalence, characteristics, risk factors, treatment, and outcomes of sepsis in critically ill patients in tertiary hospitals in China.

Critical Care Response to the Outbreak of COVID-19: The Experience From Guangdong Province, China.

In December 2019, human infection with a novel coronavirus, known as SARS-CoV-2, was confirmed in Wuhan, China, and spread rapidly beyond Wuhan and around the world. By 7 May 2020, a total of 84,409 patients were infected in mainland China, with 4,643 deaths, according to a Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention report. Recent studies reported that critically ill patients were presented with high mortality.

A novel supplemental maneuver to predict fluid responsiveness in critically ill patients: blood pump-out test performed before renal replacement therapy.

Background: Passive leg raising (PLR) test, known as reversible increasing venous return, could predict hemodynamic intolerance induced by renal replacement therapy (RRT). Oppositely, blood drainage procedure at the start of RRT cuts down intravascular capacity which is likely to have changes in fluid responsiveness has been little studied. Our study aimed to determine whether blood drainage procedure, defined as blood pump-out test, which is essential and inevitable at the beginning of RRT could predict fluid responsiveness in critically ill patients.

Clinical features of severe patients infected with 2019 novel coronavirus: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has posed significant threats to public health. To identify and treat the severe and critical patients with COVID-19 is the key clinical problem to be solved. The present study aimed to evaluate the clinical characteristics of severe and non-severe patients with COVID-19.

[Stratified outcomes of "Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes" serum creatinine criteria in critical ill patients: a secondary analysis of a multicenter prospective study].

Objective: To investigate the different outcomes of two types of acute kidney injury (AKI) according to standard of Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes-AKI (KDIGO-AKI), and to analyze the risk factors that affect the prognosis of intensive care unit (ICU) patients in China.

Methods: A secondary analysis was performed on the database of a previous study conducted by China Critical Care Clinical Trial Group (CCCCTG), which was a multicenter prospective study involving 3 063 patients in 22 tertiary ICUs in 19 provinces and autonomous regions of China. The demographic data, scores reflecting severity of illness, laboratory findings, intervention during ICU stay were extracted.

Imminent rupture of abdominal aortic aneurysm complicated by arteriovenous fistulaization and hepatorenal failure: case report and literature review.

Arteriovenous fistula (AVF) is a rare complication of the abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) with complex clinical features. However, AVF and AAA usually cause no symptoms except when they rupture. This case study demonstrated that ultrasonography was a rapid and non-invasive method for the initial assessment of AAA and AVF.

Role of Neuromuscular Blocking Agents in Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome: An Updated Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Background: The therapeutic role of neuromuscular blocking agents (NMBA) in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) remains controversial.

Methods: We systematically reviewed randomized controlled trials investigating the use of NMBA in ARDS patients from inception to July 2019. Relative risk (RR) was calculated for the incidence of barotrauma and mortality using the random-effect or fixed-effect model according to heterogeneity analysis.

Efficacy of vitamin C in patients with sepsis: An updated meta-analysis.

Previous studies have suggested the beneficial effects of vitamin C in patients with sepsis. However, the results could not be reproduced in the subsequent studies. This meta-analysis aimed to reevaluate the value of vitamin C treatment in patients with sepsis.

[Design and application of a patient's clothing for critical ultrasound examination].

At present, most of the common medical clothes in clinic are uniform medical clothes, but there is no special clothes for patients in intensive care unit (ICU). In recent years, with the extensive application of critical ultrasound in the field of critical medicine, it is obviously difficult to meet the clinical needs on traditional patients' clothes. Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital designed a patient's clothing for critical ultrasound examination.

Joint effects of uric acid and lymphocyte count on adverse outcomes in elderly patients with rheumatic heart disease undergoing valve replacement surgery.

Objectives: Increased uric acid and decreased lymphocyte count are common in elderly patients or those with heart failure, which were prognostic markers. We aimed to investigate the joint effect of uric acid and lymphocyte count for risk stratification in elderly patients with rheumatic heart disease undergoing valve replacement surgery.

Methods: Uric acid to lymphocyte ratio was calculated as serum uric acid (mg/dL)/lymphocyte count (×10/L).

[Predictive value of central venous-to-arterial carbon dioxide difference on the prognosis of elderly patients with sepsis].

Objective: To investigate the predictive value of central venous-to-arterial carbon dioxide difference (Pcv-aCO) on the prognosis of elderly patients with sepsis.

Methods: 208 elderly patients who met the diagnostic criteria of the Sepsis-3 and with the age of more than 60 years old, and admitted to intensive care unit (ICU) of Guangdong General Hospital from January to December in 2017 were enrolled. According to the prognosis, the patients were divided into death group (n = 46) and survival group (n = 162).

Diagnostic value of cardiopulmonary ultrasound in elderly patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Background: Lung ultrasound and echocardiography are mainly applied in critical care and emergency medicine. However, the diagnostic value of cardiopulmonary ultrasound in elderly patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is still unclear.

Methods: Consecutive patients admitted to ICU with the diagnosis of suspected ARDS based on clinical grounds were enrolled.

The cardiothoracic ratio: a neglected preoperative risk-stratified method for patients with rheumatic heart disease undergoing valve replacement surgery.

Objectives: It is common for patients with rheumatic heart disease to have an enlarged heart. We investigated the prognostic value of cardiothoracic ratio (CTR) in patients with rheumatic heart disease undergoing valve replacement surgery.

Methods: A total of 1772 patients were divided into 4 groups based on the quartiles of preoperative CTR: <0.