Appropriate empirical antifungal therapy is associated with a reduced mortality rate in intensive care unit patients with invasive fungal infection: A real-world retrospective study based on the MIMIC-IV database.

Objective: The study aimed to determine the prevalence and pathogens of invasive fungal infection (IFI) among intensive care unit (ICU) patients. The next goal was to investigate the association between empirical antifungal treatment and mortality in ICU patients. Methods: Using microbiological events, we identified all ICU patients with IFI and then retrieved electronic clinical data from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care IV (MIMIC-IV) database. The data were statistically analyzed using t-tests, chi-square tests, log-rank tests, and Cox regression. Results: The most commonly reported fungi were Candida (72.64%) and Aspergillus (19.08%). The most frequently prescribed antifungal medication was fluconazole (37.57%), followed by micafungin (26.47%). In the survival study of ICU patients and patients with sepsis, survivors were more likely to receive empirical antifungal treatment. In contrast, non-empirical antifungal therapy was significantly associated with poor survival in patients with positive blood cultures. We found that the current predictive score makes an accurate prediction of patients with fungal infections challenging. Conclusions: Our study demonstrated that empirical antifungal treatment is associated with decreased mortality in ICU patients. To avoid treatment delays, novel diagnostic techniques should be implemented in the clinic. Until such tests are available, appropriate empirical antifungal therapy could be administered based on a model that predicts the optimal time to initiate antifungal therapy. Additional studies should be conducted to establish more accurate predictive models in the future.

Thrombocytopenia in 737 adult intensive care unit patients: A real-world study of associated factors, drugs, platelet transfusion, and clinical outcome.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to identify and represent factors associated with thrombocytopenia in intensive care unit, especially the pathogens and drugs related to severe and extremely thrombocytopenia. Then, we aim to compare the mortality of platelet transfusion and non-transfusion in patients with different degrees of thrombocytopenia. METHODS: We identified all thrombocytopenic patients in intensive care unit by using platelet-specific values and then extracted electronic health records from our Hospital Information System. Data were statistically analyzed with t test, chi-square test, and logistic regression. RESULTS: We found that infections (32.7%) were the most frequent cause associated with thrombocytopenia, followed by sepsis shock (3.93%) and blood loss (2.99%). Meanwhile, antifungals (p = 0.002) and bacterial infection (p = 0.037) were associated with severe and extremely severe thrombocytopenia. Finally, we found that the mortality of platelet transfusion and non-transfusion in patients was statistically significant for patients with platelet counts between 30 and 49/nL (χ2 = 9.719, p = 0.002). CONCLUSION: Infection and sepsis emerged as two primary factors associated with thrombocytopenia in intensive care unit. Meanwhile, antifungals and bacterial infection were associated with platelet counts less than 49/nL. Finally, platelet transfusion may be associated with reduced mortality in patients with platelet counts between 30 and 49/nL.

Memantine attenuates the impairment of spatial learning and memory of pentylenetetrazol-kindled rats.

Cognitive disorders after epilepsy can have a great impact on the quality of life of epileptic patients, though it has not drawn much attention. Even after identified, it is often undertreated or has gone untreated. Memantine has been approved to treat moderate to severe Alzheimer disease (AD), which is characterized by cognitive impairment. In present study, we determined the effects of memantine on PTZ-kindled rats, which can mimic the postseizure dysfunction that resembles symptoms observed in human epilepsy. We found that memantine can ameliorate the spatial learning and memory of epileptic rats. But contrary to previous claims that memantine can improve cognition in AD patients, without serious side effects on normal learning and memory abilities, we found that rats treated only with memantine exhibited the impaired spatial learning and memory ability. We conclude that memantine can improve cognition related to an excitotoxicity-induced pathologic state, but the potential side effects of memantine on the physiological processes should be considered.