Publications by authors named "Walter van den Bergh"

Purpose: Patients undergoing cardiothoracic surgery are at risk of developing perioperative stroke, but residual effects of anesthesia may hamper timely detection. This study aims to determine if there is an association between intraoperative regional cerebral oxygenation (ScO) monitoring using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and the occurrence of early perioperative stroke within three days after cardiothoracic surgery.

Methods: We performed a single-center retrospective observational cohort study including all consecutive cardiothoracic surgery patients with routinely perioperative ScO monitoring admitted postoperatively to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) between 2008 and 2017.

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Article Synopsis
  • ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation) has high complication rates, prompting the need for improved management strategies, which led to the development of the REMAP ECMO platform to investigate effective patient management techniques.* -
  • The REMAP ECMO platform allows for multiple adaptive randomized controlled trials, with the first focusing on the effects of early left ventricular unloading via intra-aortic balloon pumping compared to ECMO alone for cardiogenic shock patients in the ICU.* -
  • The primary outcome aims to determine successful weaning from ECMO at 30 days, while secondary outcomes include intervention needs, survival rates, and quality of life, all analyzed using a flexible Bayesian statistical framework.*
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Objectives: To develop and validate a prediction model for 1-year mortality in patients with a hematologic malignancy acutely admitted to the ICU.

Design: A retrospective cohort study.

Setting: Five university hospitals in the Netherlands between 2002 and 2015.

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Importance: Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival rates have markedly risen in the last decades, but neurological outcome only improved marginally. Despite research on more than 20 neuroprotective strategies involving patients in comas after cardiac arrest, none have demonstrated unequivocal evidence of efficacy; however, treatment with acyl-ghrelin has shown improved functional and histological brain recovery in experimental models of cardiac arrest and was safe in a wide variety of human study populations.

Objective: To determine safety and potential efficacy of intravenous acyl-ghrelin to improve neurological outcome in patients in a coma after cardiac arrest.

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Objective: Compared with fresh frozen plasma (FFP), Omniplasma has been attributed to an increased coagulation potential and an increased fibrinolytic potential. This study aimed to compare Omniplasma and FFP used for cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) priming regarding the incidence of postoperative thrombotic or hemorrhagic complications and outcomes in pediatric patients undergoing cardiac surgery.

Design: A retrospective observational cohort study SETTING: This single-center study was performed at the University Medical Center Groningen.

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The optimal ventilation strategy for patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) remains uncertain. This survey reports current mechanical ventilation strategies adopted by ECMO centers worldwide. An international, multicenter, cross-sectional survey was conducted anonymously through an internet-based tool.

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Background: Stroke patients admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) follow a particular survival pattern with a high short-term mortality, but if they survive the first 30 days, a relatively favourable subsequent survival is observed.

Objectives: The development and validation of two prognostic models predicting 30-day mortality for ICU patients with ischaemic stroke and for ICU patients with intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH), analysed separately, based on parameters readily available within 24 h after ICU admission, and with comparison with the existing Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation IV (APACHE-IV) model.

Design: Observational cohort study.

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Article Synopsis
  • Existing research on RBC transfusion in VA ECMO patients is limited, mostly consisting of small-scale studies that hinder broader understanding.
  • This study involved an international survey and retrospective data collection from 16 centers to assess transfusion practices and outcomes in VA ECMO patients.
  • Results showed that a high percentage of patients (89%) received RBC transfusions, with factors like lower hemoglobin and longer ECMO duration influencing the need for transfusions, but overall survival did not significantly differ based on transfusion status.
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Article Synopsis
  • The study examines the use of various blood products (plasma, fibrinogen concentrate, TXA, and PCC) in patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) to achieve better blood clotting balance.
  • It analyzes data from a multicenter retrospective study involving adult patients on VA-ECMO and VV-ECMO, identifying complications related to bleeding and thrombosis.
  • Results indicate a higher use of transfusions in patients with bleeding complications, revealing trends in treatment that suggest a need for reevaluation of current transfusion practices in ECMO patients.
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Article Synopsis
  • Thrombocytopenia (low platelets) and bleeding are common problems for patients on a special machine called VA ECMO that helps with heart and lung issues.
  • A study looked at 419 patients and found that almost all of them developed low platelets, with many having severe cases, and more than half needed platelet transfusions.
  • The research showed that having severe low platelets makes it much more likely to need a platelet transfusion, especially if the patient is also bleeding.
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Aims: Knowledge about adverse drug events caused by drug-drug interactions (DDI-ADEs) is limited. We aimed to provide detailed insights about DDI-ADEs related to three frequent, high-risk potential DDIs (pDDIs) in the critical care setting: pDDIs with international normalized ratio increase (INR ) potential, pDDIs with acute kidney injury (AKI) potential, and pDDIs with QTc prolongation potential.

Methods: We extracted routinely collected retrospective data from electronic health records of intensive care units (ICUs) patients (≥18 years), admitted to ten hospitals in the Netherlands between January 2010 and September 2019.

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Objective: Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is a noninvasive tool to monitor cerebral regional oxygen saturation. Impairment of microvascular circulation with subsequent cerebral hypoxia during delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI) is associated with poor functional outcome after subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). Therefore, NIRS could be useful to predict the risk for DCI and functional outcome.

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Objectives: The modified early warning score (MEWS) is used to detect clinical deterioration of hospitalized patients. We aimed to investigate the predictive value of MEWS and derived quick Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (qSOFA) scores for intensive care unit admission in patients with a hematologic malignancy admitted to the ward.

Design: Retrospective, observational study in two Dutch university hospitals.

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Background: Transfusion guidelines regarding platelet-count thresholds before the placement of a central venous catheter (CVC) offer conflicting recommendations because of a lack of good-quality evidence. The routine use of ultrasound guidance has decreased CVC-related bleeding complications.

Methods: In a multicenter, randomized, controlled, noninferiority trial, we randomly assigned patients with severe thrombocytopenia (platelet count, 10,000 to 50,000 per cubic millimeter) who were being treated on the hematology ward or in the intensive care unit to receive either one unit of prophylactic platelet transfusion or no platelet transfusion before ultrasound-guided CVC placement.

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Background: Stroke is a feared complication after cardiothoracic surgery, with an incidence of around 2 to 3%. Anaesthesia and postoperative sedation may obscure clinical symptoms of stroke and thus delay diagnosis and timely intervention.

Objectives: The objective was to assess the value of intra-operative neuromonitoring and blood pressure monitoring for predicting the occurrence of peri-operative stroke within 3 days after cardiothoracic surgery.

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Background: Despite systemic anticoagulation and antithrombotic surface coating, oxygenator dysfunction remains one of most common technical complications of Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). Several parameters have been associated with an oxygenator exchange, but no guidelines for when to perform an exchange are published. An exchange, especially an emergency exchange, has a risk of complications.

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Objective: To clarify the significance of any form of myoclonus in comatose patients after cardiac arrest with rhythmic and periodic EEG patterns (RPPs) by analyzing associations between myoclonus and EEG pattern, response to anti-seizure medication and neurological outcome.

Design: Post hoc analysis of the prospective randomized Treatment of ELectroencephalographic STatus Epilepticus After Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (TELSTAR) trial.

Setting: Eleven ICUs in the Netherlands and Belgium.

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Article Synopsis
  • - This study examines survival rates and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in patients who underwent extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) treatment within one year of their hospital admission.
  • - Out of 428 patients, 50% died within the year, but those who survived reported a good average HRQOL of 0.71 after 12 months and incurred an average total cost of $204,513, with hospital expenses being the largest portion.
  • - The findings suggest that while the quality of life for ECMO survivors is favorable, the high costs raise concerns, and potential biases in follow-up data could skew results toward better health outcomes than what might be typical.
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Unlabelled: Although venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV ECMO) has been used in case of COVID-19 induced acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), outcomes and criteria for its application should be evaluated.

Objectives: To describe patient characteristics and outcomes in patients receiving VV ECMO due to COVID-19-induced ARDS and to assess the possible impact of COVID-19 on mortality.

Design Setting And Participants: Multicenter retrospective study in 15 ICUs worldwide.

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Introduction And Objective: Blood pressure is presumably related to rebleeding and delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI) after subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) and could serve as a target to improve outcome. We assessed the associations between blood pressure and rebleeding or DCI in aSAH-patients.

Materials And Methods: In this observational study in 1167 aSAH-patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU), adjusted hazard ratio's (aHR) were calculated for the time-dependent association of blood pressure and rebleeding or DCI.

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Background: Our randomized clinical trial on induced hypertension in patients with delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI) after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) was halted prematurely due to unexpected slow recruitment rates. This raised new questions regarding recruitment feasibility. As our trial can therefore be seen as a feasibility trial, we assessed the reasons for the slow recruitment, aiming to facilitate the design of future randomized trials in aSAH patients with DCI or other critically ill patient categories.

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