Comparison of 6 handheld ultrasound devices by point-of-care ultrasound experts: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) has emerged as an essential bedside tool for clinicians, but lack of access to ultrasound equipment has been a top barrier to POCUS use. Recently, several handheld ultrasound devices ("handhelds") have become available, and clinicians are seeking data to guide purchasing decisions. Few comparative studies of different handhelds have been done. We conducted a cross-sectional study comparing 6 handhelds readily available in the United States (Butterfly iQ + ™ by Butterfly Network Inc.; Clarius™ by Clarius Mobile Health; Kosmos™ by EchoNous; TE Air™ by Mindray; Vscan Air™ SL and CL by General Electric; and Lumify™ by Philips Healthcare). A multi-specialty group of physician POCUS experts (n = 35) acquired three standard ultrasound views (abdominal right upper quadrant, cardiac apical 4-chamber, and superficial neck and lung views) in random order on the same standardized patients and rated the image quality. Afterward, a final survey of the overall ease of use, image quality, and satisfaction of each handheld was completed. RESULTS: Thirty-five POCUS experts specializing in internal medicine/hospital medicine, critical care, emergency medicine, and nephrology acquired and rated right upper quadrant, apical 4-chamber, and superficial neck and lung views with 6 different handhelds. For image quality, the highest-rated handhelds were Vscan Air™ for the right upper quadrant view, Mindray TE Air™ for the cardiac apical 4-chamber view, and Lumify™ for superficial views of the neck and lung. Overall satisfaction with image quality was highest with Vscan Air™, Lumify™, and Mindray, while overall satisfaction with ease of use was highest with Vscan Air™. The 5 most desirable characteristics of handhelds were image quality, ease of use, portability, probe size, and battery life. Ultimately, all 6 handhelds had notable advantages and disadvantages, with no single device having all desired qualities or features. CONCLUSIONS: The overall satisfaction with image quality was rated highest with Vscan Air™, Lumify™, and Mindray TE Air™when acquiring right upper quadrant, apical 4-chamber, and superficial neck and lung views. No single handheld was perceived to be superior in image quality for all views. Vscan Air™ was rated highest for overall ease of use and was the most preferred handheld for purchase by POCUS experts.

Severe Metabolic Acidosis: A Case of Triple Hit with Ketogenic Diet, Vinegar, and Metformin in an Obese Patient.

Obesity is an epidemic with high burden of disease. It is directly proportional to increased risk of morbidity and mortality. Ketogenic diet and herbal supplements have recently gained popularity amongst patients struggling with weight loss. There are limited data available for most of these supplements contrary to the claims laid by the mainstream media. Due to lack of awareness, this patient population is at high risk of adverse effects. We present a case of severe acidosis secondary to ketogenic diet and acetic acid (vinegar) ingestion. The use of dietary acetic acid is usually well tolerated; however, in this case, the large quantities and presence of acute renal injury may have worsened the acidosis. Severe ketosis in setting of ketogenic diets is a serious complication, which is infrequently reported in literature. Many of these diets and supplements may seem harmless, but as our case illustrates, when combined with other risk factors, patients can face adverse effects and even hospitalization. It is imperative that such dietary practices are physician supervised to avoid complications. With the recent surge of over-the-counter weight loss supplements and fat diets, physicians need to engage in dietary discussion with patients when attempting to lose weight.

Use of diuretics in shock: Temporal trends and clinical impacts in a propensity-matched cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: Fluid overload is common among critically ill patients and is associated with worse outcomes. We aimed to assess the effect of diuretics on urine output, vasopressor dose, acute kidney injury (AKI) incidence, and need for renal replacement therapies (RRT) among patients who receive vasopressors. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This is a single-center retrospective study of all adult patients admitted to the intensive care unit between January 2006 and December 2016 and received >6 hours of vasopressor therapy and at least one concomitant dose of diuretic. We excluded patients from cardiac care units. Hourly urine output and vasopressor dose for 6 hours before and after the first dose of diuretic therapy was compared. Rates of AKI development and RRT initiation were assessed with a propensity-matched cohort of patients who received vasopressors but did not receive diuretics. RESULTS: There was an increasing trend of prescribing diuretics in patients receiving vasopressors over the course of the study. We included 939 patients with median (IQR) age of 68(57, 78) years old and 400 (43%) female. The average hourly urine output during the first six hours following time zero in comparison with average hourly urine output during the six hours prior to time zero was significantly higher in diuretic group in comparison with patients who did not receive diuretics [81 (95% CI 73-89) ml/h vs. 42 (95% CI 39-45) ml/h, respectively; p<0.001]. After propensity matching, the rate of AKI within 7 days of exposure and the need for RRT were similar between the study and matched control patients (66 (15.6%) vs. 83 (19.6%), p = 0.11, and 34 (8.0%) vs. 37 (8.7%), p = 0.69, respectively). Mortality, however, was higher in the group that received diuretics. Ninety-day mortality was 191 (45.2%) in the exposed group VS 156 (36.9%) p = .009. CONCLUSIONS: While the use of diuretic therapy in critically ill patients receiving vasopressor infusions augmented urine output, it was not associated with higher vasopressor requirements, AKI incidence, and need for renal replacement therapy.

Role of Loop Diuretic Challenge in Stage 3 Acute Kidney Injury.

OBJECTIVE: To assess whether loop diuretic challenge predicts the need for dialysis among critically ill patients with acute kidney injury (AKI) stage 3. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Adult patients admitted to intensive care units between January 1, 2004, and December 31, 2016, were screened. Acute kidney injury stage 3 was identified by an electronic surveillance tool, and patients who received loop diuretics in a dosage of at least 1mg/kg intravenous bolus furosemide equivalent were included. Urine output following loop diuretic challenge was modeled as a restricted cubic spline. We then compared the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for urine outputs at 2 hours and 6 hours after loop diuretic challenge to predict the need for dialysis within the next 24 hours. RESULTS: Of 687 patients included in the study, those who received dialysis were younger and had higher Sequential Organ Failure Assessment scores on the day of loop diuretic challenge. Urine outputs at 2 hours and 6 hours were lower in patients who needed dialysis, but urine output by 6 hours was better in predicting dialysis initiation within 24 hours (area under the curve, 0.71 vs 0.67; P=.02). The sensitivity and specificity of 6-hour urine output cutoff of 600 mL or less to predict dialysis was 80.9% and 50.5%, respectively, and that for 300 mL or less was 64.2% and 68.2%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Among patients with stage 3 AKI, 6-hour urine output after the loop diuretic challenge had a modest discriminant capacity to identify dialysis initiation within the next 24 hours.

Chloride in intensive care units: a key electrolyte.

Over the past few years, chloride has joined the league of essential electrolytes for critically ill patients. Dyschloremia can occur secondary to various etiologic factors before and during patient admission in the intensive care unit. Some cases are disease-related; others, treatment-related. Chloride abnormalities were shown in animal models to have adverse effects on arterial blood pressure, renal blood flow, and inflammatory markers, which have led to several clinical investigations. Hyperchloremia was studied in several settings and correlated to different outcomes, including death and acute kidney injury. Baseline hypochloremia, to a much lesser extent, has been studied and associated with similar outcomes. The chloride content of resuscitation fluids was also a subject of clinical research. In this review, we describe the effect of dyschloremia on outcomes in critically ill patients. We review the major studies assessing the chloride content of resuscitation fluids in the critically ill patient.

Hyperkalemia After Initiating Renin-Angiotensin System Blockade: The Stockholm Creatinine Measurements (SCREAM) Project.

BACKGROUND: Concerns about hyperkalemia limit the use of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE-I) and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs), but guidelines conflict regarding potassium-monitoring protocols. We quantified hyperkalemia monitoring and risks after ACE-I/ARB initiation and developed and validated a hyperkalemia susceptibility score. METHODS AND RESULTS: We evaluated 69 426 new users of ACE-I/ARB therapy in the Stockholm Creatinine Measurements (SCREAM) project with medication initiation from January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2010, and follow-up for 1 year thereafter. Three fourths (76%) of SCREAM patients had potassium checked within the first year. Potassium >5 and >5.5 mmol/L occurred in 5.6% and 1.7%, respectively. As a comparison, we propensity-matched new ACE-I/ARB users to 20 186 new ß-blocker users in SCREAM: 64% had potassium checked. The occurrence of elevated potassium levels was similar between new ß-blocker and ACE-I/ARB users without kidney disease; only at estimated glomerular filtration rate <60 mL/min per 1.73 m2 were risks higher among ACE-I/ARB users. We developed a hyperkalemia susceptibility score that incorporated estimated glomerular filtration rate, baseline potassium level, sex, diabetes mellitus, heart failure, and the concomitant use of potassium-sparing diuretics in new ACE-I/ARB users; this score accurately predicted 1-year hyperkalemia risk in the SCREAM cohort (area under the curve, 0.845, 95% CI: 0.840-0.869) and in a validation cohort from the US-based Geisinger Health System (N=19 524; area under the curve, 0.818, 95% CI: 0.794-0.841), with good calibration. CONCLUSIONS: Hyperkalemia within the first year of ACE-I/ARB therapy was relatively uncommon among people with estimated glomerular filtration rate >60 mL/min per 1.73 m2, but rates were much higher with lower estimated glomerular filtration rate. Use of the hyperkalemia susceptibility score may help guide laboratory monitoring and prescribing strategies.

Hyperuricemia after orthotopic liver transplantation: divergent associations with progression of renal disease, incident end-stage renal disease, and mortality.

BACKGROUND: Although hyperuricemia is common after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT), its relationship to mortality, progressive kidney disease, or the development of end stage renal disease (ESRD) is not well-described. METHODS: Data from 304 patients undergoing OLT between 1996 and 2010 were used to assess the association of mean serum uric acid (UA) level in the 3-months post-OLT with mortality, doubling of creatinine, and ESRD incidence. Post-OLT survival to event outcomes according to UA level and eGFR was assessed using the Kaplan Meier method and multivariate Cox proportional hazards models. RESULTS: Mean UA level among the 204 patients with an eGFR level ≥60 ml/min/1.73 m2 was 6.4 mg/dl compared to 7.9 mg/dl among the 100 patients with eGFR <60 (p < 0.0001). During a median of 4.6 years of follow-up, mortality rate, doubling of creatinine, and ESRD incidence were 48.9, 278.2, and 20.7 per 1000 person-years, respectively. In the first 5 years of follow-up, elevated UA was associated with mortality (Hazard Ratio, HR = 1.7; p = 0.045). However, among those with eGFR ≥ 60, UA level did not predict mortality (HR = 1.0; p = 0.95), and among those with eGFR < 60, elevated UA was a strong predictor of mortality (HR = 3.7[1.1, 12.0]; p = 0.03). UA was not associated with ESRD, but was associated with doubling of creatinine among diabetics (HR = 2.2[1.1, 4.3]; p = 0.025). CONCLUSION: In this post-OLT cohort, hyperuricemia independently predicted mortality, particularly among patients with eGFR < 60, and predicted doubling of creatinine among diabetics.

Rituximab for the treatment of refractory simultaneous anti-glomerular basement membrane (anti-GBM) and membranous nephropathy.

Antibody-mediated anti-glomerular basement membrane (anti-GBM) disease occurs rarely in the presence of another B-cell disorder, membranous nephropathy. The coexistence of these two autoimmune disorders would be anticipated to require differing, specific therapies targeted to each disease process. We describe a case of concomitant membranous nephropathy and anti-GBM disease in which conventional therapy, including steroids, plasmapheresis and cyclophosphamide, failed to attenuate the anti-GBM disease, yet responded to an alternative treatment of rituximab. This B-cell directed, monoclonal, chimeric antibody treatment substantially reduced anti-GBM antibody titers and led to discontinuation of plasmapheresis, while maintaining the remission of membranous nephropathy and anti-GBM disease.