Data-Driven Implementation of Alarm Reduction Interventions in a Cardiovascular Surgical ICU.

BACKGROUND: Alarm fatigue in the ICU setting has been well documented in the literature. The ICU's high-intensity environment requires staff's vigilant attention, and distraction from false and non-actionable alarms pulls staff away from important tasks, creates dissatisfaction, and is a potential patient safety risk if alarms are missed or ignored. This project was intended to improve patient safety by optimizing alarm systems in a cardiovascular surgical intensive care unit (CVSICU). Specific aims were to examine nurses' attitudes toward clinical alarm signals, assess nurses' ability to discriminate audible alarm signals, and implement a bundled set of best practices for monitor alarm reduction without undermining patient safety. METHODS: CVSICU nurses completed an alarm perception survey and participated in alarm discriminability testing. Nurse survey data and baseline monitor alarm data were used to select targeted alarm reduction interventions, which were progressively phased in. Monitor alarm data and cardiorespiratory event data were trended over one year. RESULTS: Five of the most frequent CVSICU monitor alarm types-pulse oximetry, heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, pulse oximetry sensor, and ventricular tachycardia > 2-were targeted. After implementation, there was a 61% reduction in average alarms per monitored bed and a downward trend in cardiorespiratory events. CONCLUSION: To reduce alarm fatigue it is important to decrease alarm burden through targeted interventions. Methods to reduce non-actionable alarms include adding short delays to allow alarm self-correction, adjusting default alarm threshold limits, providing alarm notification through a secondary device, and teaching staff to optimize alarm settings for individual patients.

USING THE PARENT-INFANT RELATIONSHIP GLOBAL ASSESSMENT SCALE TO IDENTIFY CAREGIVER-INFANT/TODDLER DYADS WITH ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIP PATTERNS IN SIX EUROPEAN COUNTRIES.

The study examined whether the Diagnostic Classification of Mental Health and Developmental Disorders of Infancy and Early Childhood, Revised Edition (DC: 0-3R; ZERO TO THREE, 2005) Parent-Infant Relationship Global Assessment Scale (PIR-GAS) is applicable to six European countries and contributes to the identification of caregiver-infant/toddler dyads with abusive relationship patterns. The sample consisted of 115 dyads with children's ages ranging from 1 to 47 months. Sixty-four dyads were recruited from community settings without known violence problems, and 51 dyads were recruited from clinical settings and already had been identified with violence problems or as being at risk for violence problems. To classify the dyads on the PIR-GAS categories, caregiver-child interactions were video-recorded and coded with observational scales appropriate for child age. To test whether the PIR-GAS allows for reliable identification of dyads with abusive relationship patterns, PIR-GAS ratings were compared with scores on the the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect's (ISPCAN) Child Abuse Screening Tool-Parental Version (ICAST-P; D.K. Runyan et al., ), a questionnaire measuring abusive parental disciplinary practices. It was found that PIR-GAS ratings differentiated between the general and the clinical sample, and the dyads with abusive patterns of relationship were identified by both the PIR-GAS and the ICAST-P. Interrater reliability for the PIR-GAS ranged from moderate to excellent. The value of a broader use of tools such as the DC: 0-3R to promote early identification of families at risk for infant and toddler abuse and neglect is discussed.

Treatment and outcomes in adult patients with primary cardiac sarcoma: the British Columbia Cancer Agency experience.

BACKGROUND: To evaluate treatment and survival in a cohort of patients referred to a Canadian institution with newly diagnosed primary cardiac sarcoma. METHODS: Between 1990 and 2006, 16 patients were referred to the British Columbia Cancer Agency with pathologically confirmed sarcoma of cardiac origin. Retrospective chart review was performed to document patient, tumor, and treatment characteristics. Disease-free survival and overall survival (OS) were calculated by Kaplan-Meier methods and compared in different subgroups by log rank statistics. RESULTS: The cohort comprised 10 female and 6 male patients. The mean age was 51 years (range, 27-81 years). The most common histologic subtype was angiosarcoma. Surgical resection, alone or in combination with chemotherapy or radiotherapy, was undertaken in 10 of 12 patients with localized and 3 of 4 patients with metastatic disease. At a median follow-up of 8 months, all patients had died of disease. In the entire cohort, mean disease-free survival and OS were 6 months and 14 months, respectively. Patients with localized disease had significantly longer survival compared to metastatic disease (mean OS 18 months vs. 2 months, P = 0.001). Patients treated with complete resection had improved OS compared to incompletely resected disease (25 months vs. 6 months, P = 0.042). Age, sex, tumor grade, location, and subtype were not associated with statistically significant survival differences. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with nonmetastatic cardiac sarcoma amenable to complete resection experienced improved survival. However, the high overall rates of disease progression and mortality highlight the need for more effective local and systemic treatments that may be used in conjunction with surgery to improve patient outcomes.

A phase III randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study evaluating dextromethorphan plus slow-release morphine for chronic cancer pain relief in terminally ill patients.

This multicenter trial examined the efficacy and safety of dextromethorphan (DM) as an enhancer of analgesia and modulator of opioid tolerance in cancer patients with pain. Eligible patients were randomized to slow-release morphine plus DM or slow-release morphine plus placebo. The initial DM dose was 60 mg four times daily for seven days, with an increase to 120 mg four times daily, if tolerated, for another seven days. During the study, patients recorded medications and scores for pain, nausea, drowsiness, and insomnia. Sixty-five patients were randomized. Although average pain scores (12.6 vs. 15.8), number of breakthrough doses (9 vs. 11.3), and change in total morphine consumption (550.9 mg vs. 597.1mg) were less in the DM group than placebo group, the differences were not statistically significant (P=0.31-0.33). Side-effect scores were not statistically significantly different. Dizziness was greater in the DM (58%) than placebo (36%) group. This study showed a statistically nonsignificant enhancement of analgesia or modulation of opioid tolerance in cancer patients with pain when DM was added to morphine. Participants receiving the DM also had more toxicity, particularly dizziness. This toxicity and the limited evidence of effect do not support the use of DM to enhance opioid analgesia or to modulate opioid tolerance in cancer patients.

Evolving treatment strategies for inflammatory breast cancer: a population-based survival analysis.

PURPOSE: To determine if mastectomy (Mx) use, chemotherapy (CT) intensity, or treatment sequence of CT, radiation therapy (RT), and Mx have improved outcome for inflammatory breast cancer (IBC). PATIENTS AND METHODS: A retrospective analysis of 485 patients with IBC diagnosed in British Columbia between 1980 and 2000 analyzed locoregional relapse-free survival (LRFS) and breast cancer-specific survival (BCSS) by treatment intent and treatment received. Curative intent was defined as delivery of more than four cycles of anthracycline-based CT plus locoregional RT in patients without distant metastases. RESULTS: Median follow-up among survivors was 6.5 years. Median BCSS was 1.0 and 3.2 years for patients with distant metastases at diagnosis or those who were curatively treated, respectively. Among patients treated curatively (n = 308), there were no significant differences in LRFS or BCSS with timing of Mx before or after CT/RT, time between diagnosis and RT, or the sequence of RT and CT. Patients receiving more intensive CT had improved 10-year BCSS compared with standard CT (43.7% v 26.3%; P = .04). Ten-year LRFS for patients having Mx after CT, Mx before CT, and without Mx was 62.8%, 58.6%, and 34.4%, respectively (P = .0001); the corresponding 10-year BCSS was 36.9%, 19.9%, and 22.5%, respectively (P = .005). On multivariate analysis, Mx was associated with improved LRFS (P = .04). Independent prognostic factors for BCSS were menopausal status (P = .02), estrogen receptor status (P = .02), and CT type (P = .05). CONCLUSION: This retrospective analysis suggested that mastectomy, in conjunction with CT and RT, seemed to enhance locoregional control, whereas modern CT regimens seemed to improve BCSS.

Long-term survival of patients with supraclavicular metastases at diagnosis of breast cancer.

BACKGROUND: Patients with supraclavicular metastases at diagnosis of breast cancer were classified between 1987 and 2002 as having stage M(1) breast cancer according to the tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) system. The 2003 edition of the TNM staging guidelines has classified such patients as having stage IIIC disease. To determine relative prognosis, we compared long-term survival in a population-based cohort of patients with isolated supraclavicular metastases (nodal-M(1)) to outcomes of patients with stage IIIB or M(1) (other) disease at presentation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Among patients with breast cancer and known tumor stage referred to the British Columbia Cancer Agency from 1976 to 1985, 336 IIIB, 233 M(1), and 51 nodal-M(1) patients were identified. Actuarial overall and breast cancer-specific survival rates were determined to 20 years. RESULTS: Overall survival at 20 years was 13.2% for nodal-M(1) cases (95% confidence interval [CI], 5% to 26%), 9.4% for IIIB cases (95% CI, 6% to 14%), and 1.3% for M(1) (other) cases (95% CI, 0.4% to 3.5%; log-rank P <.0005). Overall survival was similar between nodal-M(1) and IIIB cases (P =.27). Breast cancer-specific survival at 20 years was 24.1% for nodal-M(1) cases (95% CI, 13% to 37%), 30.2% for IIIB cases (95% CI, 23% to 38%), and 3.9% for M(1) (other) cases (95% CI, 2% to 8%; log-rank P <.0005). Breast cancer-specific survival was significantly different for nodal-M(1) cases compared with either IIIB or M(1) (other) cases (P =.008 for both). CONCLUSION: Patients with supraclavicular metastases at diagnosis have significantly better outcomes than patients with M(1) (other) disease and overall survival similar to patients with IIIB disease. Reclassification as stage IIIC is appropriate for patients with breast cancer who present with supraclavicular nodal metastases alone.

Opioid hyperexcitability: the application of alternate opioid therapy.

Three cases are reported where patients experienced severe central nervous system adverse effects on high-dose hydromorphone. These effects were rapidly alleviated following a change in therapy to morphine at 20-25% of the usually accepted potency equivalent dose. We recommend caution in using equivalent dose tables when changing opioid therapy in patients receiving high-dose opioid treatment.

A phase II trial of a neoadjuvant platinum regimen for locally advanced breast cancer: pathologic response, long-term follow-up, and correlation with biomarkers.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to determine the response, tolerability, and long-term outcome of a neoadjuvant platinum-containing regimen for locally advanced breast cancer (LABC) and to search for a correlation between pathologic complete response (pCR) and predefined biomarkers in this cohort. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients with LABC received 8 cycles of either sequence A or B. Sequence A was doxorubicin 60 mg/m(2) and paclitaxel 175 mg/m(2) (AT) every 3 weeks x 4 followed by cisplatin (C) 60 mg/m(2) and paclitaxel 90 mg/m(2) (CT) every 2 weeks x 4. Sequence B was CT x 4 (with paclitaxel dose escalation) followed by AT x 4. In addition to estrogen receptor (ER) and HER2, immunohistochemistry for MDR-1, MRP-1, topoisomerase IIalpha (topo IIalpha), and p53 was performed. RESULTS: A total of 88 patients were evaluable for response and toxicity. Median follow-up was 97 months. The overall pCR rate was 21.5%. For subgroups ER+/HER2-, HER2+ and double negative (ER-/HER2-) disease, the pCR rates were 5.9%, 23.3%, and 35%, respectively (P = .006). Five-year overall survival for the entire cohort was 71.1%. Five-year overall survival was 88.1% (95% CI, 77.1%-99.1%) for the ER+/HER2- group compared with 68.5% (95% CI, 51.3%-85.7%) and 49.5% (95% CI, 27.4%-71.6%) in the HER2+ and "double-negative" group, respectively (P = .0077). Overexpression of topo IIalpha was correlated with pCR (P < .001). There were no toxic deaths. CONCLUSION: A platinum-containing neoadjuvant regimen was well tolerated and achieved a pCR comparable to other recent studies of multiagent chemotherapy. Further studies tailored for specific breast cancer subtypes are required.

Impact of donor lung organisms on post-lung transplant pneumonia.

BACKGROUND: Fear of transmission of donor organisms that may result in recipient pneumonia has a negative impact on donor lung utilization. We reviewed our experience with routine donor bronchial aspiration and culture at the time of transplantation to study the impact of donor bronchial organisms on the development of recipient post-lung transplant pneumonia (PTP) and other outcomes. METHODS: We reviewed 80 consecutive single and bilateral lung transplants (SLTs and BLTs) from August 1998 to August 2001. Pediatric recipients and those not surviving >3 days were excluded. All donors met standard criteria for donor acceptance. All recipients received broad-spectrum antibiotics pending the results of final operating room cultures. PTP required clinical evidence (fever, leukocytosis and hypoxia), radiologic evidence (infiltrate), and culture confirmation during initial hospitalization or within 30 days. RESULTS: Sixty-four donors for 71 recipients (39 SLTs, 32 BLTs) comprised the study population. Organisms were grown from 57 (89%) donors and 46 were polymicrobial. A total of 149 organisms were cultured consisting of 21 different species, with Staphylococcus (n = 35) and Streptococcus (n = 33) being the most common. PTP was seen in 31 (41%) recipients, with Pseudomonas species (n = 13) the most prevalent. Of the 71 donor-recipient pairs, 2 had both donor and recipient with no growth and PTP. The donor organisms had a sensitivity of 0.75 with a low specificity of 0.04 and were negatively correlated with development of PTP. PTP was an independent predictor of overall mortality. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of donor organisms does not predict PTP. Therefore, donor acceptance criteria need to be re-examined.