[Field 2. Epidemiology (medical errors and patient adverse events). French-speaking Society of Intensive Care. French Society of Anesthesia and Resuscitation]. / Champ 2. Epidémiologie (erreurs médicales et événements indésirables patients). SRLF. SFAR.

Iatrogenic pathology is currently a serious problem. Intensive care units (ICU) are wards with a high risk of occurrence of adverse events (AE) related to the care and medical errors. The incidence of AE in ICU varies from 3 to 31% according to the publications. These variations are mainly due to the methodology of data collection. The latter is essential. The indicators must be standardized (consensual definitions), and easily collected. The method of collection must be ideally prospective, nonpunitive, confidential, independent within a compliant team, and realized with the participation of various actors not only of the unit but also external (biologists, pharmacists). The risk factors of AE in ICU are known: old age and high severity scores at admission, with medical and nurse workload more important. AE are associated with an increased patients' morbidity in ICU with no evident causality. The over cost related to AE in ICU was quantified to 3961 dollars in the United States. The mortality of patients with an AE is higher but no study showed to date that AE constituted an independent risk factor of mortality in ICU. Some AE are preventable (from 28 to 84% according to studies). Therefore, the implementation of procedures of security (PS) is capital. Many methods often easy to implement exist such as in care, structural and managerial procedures. The development of a safety culture in hospitals and other delivery care settings is essential. It is the first essential step in a better comprehension of the health care professionals and the public opinion.

Routine exploratory thoracentesis in ICU patients with pleural effusions: results of a French questionnaire study.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to report the opinions of intensivists regarding pleural effusions in patients in the intensive care unit (ICU). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Questionnaires were sent to 1,032 intensivists, who were members of the French Society of Critical Care. RESULTS: Four hundred thirty-one questionnaires (41.7%) were returned. Overall, the respondents' estimated the incidence of pleural effusion in ICU patients to be 22.19 +/- 17%, whereas 37 +/- 27% considered that exploratory thoracentesis was likely to determine the cause of the effusion, and 17.36 +/- 16% considered that its results were likely to result in a change in their therapeutic attitude. Sixty-five (15%) physicians, chiefly pulmonologists, performed exploratory thoracentesis routinely (Group 1). Compared with those who did not perform routine thoracentesis (Group 2), they ascribed a higher proportion of pleural effusions to infection (31.3% vs. 13.5%) and were more likely to consider that exploratory thoracentesis had a diagnostic and therapeutic contribution (51.2% vs. 34% and 23% vs. 16%, respectively). In addition to the respiratory medicine subspecialty, the practice of routine exploratory thoracentesis was significantly related to seniority, to the frequency of the suspicion of an infectious cause in the physician's practice, and to his or her appreciation of the risks associated with exploratory thoracentesis. Physicians from Group 1 were also more likely to describe exploratory thoracentesis as a noninvasive procedure. CONCLUSIONS: The beliefs and attitudes of intensivists regarding pleural effusions and exploratory thoracentesis are divergent. This may be due to the lack of precise guidelines on the topic and prompt the design of further studies to establish precisely the epidemiology and causes of pleural effusions in ICU patients.

Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase alpha(2)-isoform expression in guinea pig hearts during transition from compensation to decompensation.

Disturbance in ionic gradient across sarcolemma may lead to arrhythmias. Because Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase regulates intracellular Na(+) and K(+) concentrations, and therefore intracellular Ca(2+) concentration homeostasis, our aim was to determine whether changes in the Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase alpha-isoforms in guinea pigs during transition from compensated (CLVH) to decompensated left ventricular hypertrophy (DLVH) were concomitant with arrhythmias. After 12- and 20-mo aortic stenosis, CLVH and DLVH were characterized by increased mean arterial pressure (30% and 52.7%, respectively). DLVH differed from CLVH by significantly increased end-diastolic pressure (34%), decreased sarco(endo)plasmic reticulum Ca(2+)-ATPase (-75%), and increased Na(+)/Ca(2+) exchanger (25%) mRNA levels and by the occurrence of ventricular arrhythmias. The alpha-isoform (mRNA and protein levels) was significantly lower in DLVH (2.2 +/- 0.2- and 1. 4 +/- 0.15-fold, respectively, vs. control) than in CLVH (3.5 +/- 0. 4- and 2.2 +/- 0.13-fold, respectively) and was present in sarcolemma and T tubules. Changes in the levels of alpha(1)- and alpha(3)-isoform in CLVH and DLVH appear physiologically irrelevant. We suggest that the increased level of alpha(2)-isoform in CLVH may participate in compensation, whereas its relative decrease in DLVH may enhance decompensation and arrhythmias.

Attributable morbidity and mortality of catheter-related septicemia in critically ill patients: a matched, risk-adjusted, cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the attributable risk of death due to catheter-related septicemia (CRS) in critically ill patients when taking into account severity of illness during the intensive-care unit (ICU) stay but before CRS. DESIGN: Pairwise-matched (1:2) exposed-unexposed study. SETTING: 10-bed medical-surgical ICU and an 18-bed medical ICU. PATIENTS: Patients admitted to either ICU between January 1, 1990, and December 31, 1995, were eligible. Exposed patients were defined as patients with CRS; unexposed controls were selected according to matching variables. METHODS: Matching variables were diagnosis at ICU admission, length of central catheterization before the infection, McCabe Score, Simplified Acute Physiologic Score (SAPS) II at admission, age, and gender. Severity scores (SAPS II, Organ System Failure Score, Organ Dysfunction and Infection Score, and Logistic Organ Dysfunction System) were calculated four times for each patient: the day of ICU admission, the day of CRS onset, and 3 and 7 days before CRS. Matching was successful for 38 exposed patients. Statistical analysis was based on nonparametric tests for epidemiological data and on Cox's models for the exposed-unexposed study, with adjustment on matching variables and prognostic factors of mortality. RESULTS: CRS complicated 1.17 per 100 ICU admissions during the study period. Twenty (53%) of the CRS cases were associated with septic shock. CRS was associated with a 28% increase in SAPS II. Crude ICU mortality rates from exposed and unexposed patients were 50% and 21%, respectively. CRS remained associated with mortality even when adjusted on other prognostic factors at ICU admission (relative risk [RR], 2.01; 95% confidence interval [CI95], 1.08-3.73; P=.03). However, after adjustment on severity scores calculated between ICU admission and 1 week before CRS, the increased mortality was no longer significant (RR, 1.41; CI95, 0.76-2.61; P=.27). CONCLUSION: CRS is associated with subsequent morbidity and mortality in the ICU, even when adjusted on severity factors at ICU admission. However, after adjustment on severity factors during the ICU stay and before the event, there was only a trend toward CRS-attributable mortality. The evolution of patient severity should be taken into account when evaluating excess mortality induced by nosocomial events in ICU patients.

Changing use of intensive care for hematological patients: the example of multiple myeloma.

OBJECTIVE: Intensivists generally view patients with hematological malignancies as poor candidates for intensive care. Nevertheless, hematologists have recently developed more aggressive treatment protocols capable of achieving prolonged complete remissions in many of these patients. This change mandates a reappraisal of indications for ICU admission in each type of hematological disease. Improved knowledge of the prognosis is of assistance in making treatment decisions. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The records of 75 myeloma patients consecutively admitted to our ICU between 1992 and 1998 were reviewed retrospectively and predictors of 30-day mortality were identified using stepwise logistic regression. RESULTS: The median age was 56 years (37-84). Chronic health status (Knaus scale) was C or D in 39 cases. Fifty-five patients (73%) had stage III disease and 17 had a complete or partial remission. Autologous bone marrow transplantation had been performed in 28 patients (37%). ICU admission occurred between 1992 and 1995 in 41 patients (54.7%), and between 1996 and 1998 in 34 patients (45.3%). The median SAPS II and LOD scores were 60 (23-107) and 7 (0-21), respectively. Reasons for ICU admission were acute respiratory failure in 39 patients (52%) and shock in 31 (41%). Forty-six patients (61%) required mechanical ventilation. Fifty patients (66%) received vasopressors and 24 dialysis. Thirty-day mortality was 57%. Only five parameters were independently associated with 30-day mortality in the multivariate model: female gender (OR = 5.12), mechanical ventilation (OR = 16.7) and use of vasopressor agents (OR = 5.67) were associated with a higher mortality rate, whereas disease remission (OR = 0.16) and ICU admission between 1996 and 1998 (OR = 0.09) were associated with a lower one. CONCLUSION: The prognosis for myeloma patients in the ICU is improving over time. This may reflect either recent therapeutic changes in hematological departments and ICUs or changes in patient selection for ICU admission. Hematologists and intensivists should work closely together to select hematological patients likely to benefit from ICU admission.