Uterine rupture successfully treated with a damage-control strategy of hysterectomy and resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta-assisted cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Background: Uterine rupture is a major cause of postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) that requires surgery. Resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta (REBOA) is also helpful for PPH. However, the effectiveness of REBOA in PPH with cardiac arrest is unknown. Case Presentation: A 40-year-old woman developed hemorrhagic shock due to uterine rupture after an induced delivery. She developed cardiac arrest, but was rescued by cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), REBOA, a hysterectomy, and pelvic gauze packing. The hemodynamics were too unstable to move to the operating room. Then we initiated the CPR assisted with REBOA and decided to activate massive transfusion and perform laparotomy in the emergency room. She was finally discharged home without neurological sequelae. Conclusion: Our damage control strategy, including REBOA-assisted CPR, contributed to saving the life of a patient with a life-threatening PPH.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on epidemiology, treatment, and outcome of major trauma in Japan in 2020: a retrospective observational nationwide registry-based study.

Aim: The nationwide impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic on major trauma in Japan is unknown. The nationwide registry-based data of the Japanese Trauma Data Bank were analyzed to elucidate the impact of COVID-19 on the epidemiology, treatment, and outcomes of major trauma patients. Methods: Among patients transported directly from the injury site by ambulance with an Injury Severity Score of ≥16, we compared patients managed from April to December in 2019 to those managed from April to December in 2020. Results: In total, 9792 patients were included in this study (2019, n = 5194; 2020, n = 4598). There were no significant differences in age or sex, but there were significant differences between 2019 and 2020 in the rates of "self-injury (suicide)", "motor vehicle accident", "fall from height", "fall down", and "fall to the ground", which are factors associated with patient age. Injury severity in 2019 and 2020 did not differ to a statistically significant extent, but the rate of major spinal injury increased. The time of prehospital care significantly increased in 2020 compared to 2019. There was no noticeable change in hospital treatment or in-hospital mortality between 2019 and 2020. Conclusion: This study suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic might have altered the injuries of major trauma; however, medical services for major trauma were well supplied in Japan in 2020.

Relationship between in-hospital mortality and abdominal angiography among patients with blunt liver injuries: a propensity score-matching from a nationwide trauma registry of Japan.

AIM: To assess relationships between abdominal angiography and outcomes in adults with blunt liver injuries. METHODS: A retrospective observational study carried out from January 2004 to December 2018. Adult blunt-trauma patients with AAST grade Ⅲ-Ⅴ were analyzed with in-hospital mortality as the primary outcome using propensity-score-(PS) matching to seek associations with abdominal angiography findings. RESULTS: A total of 1,821 patients were included, of which 854 had available abdominal angiography data (AA+) and 967 did not (AA-). From these, 562 patients were selected from each group by propensity score matching. In-hospital mortality was found to be lower in the AA+ than in the AA- group (15.1% [87/562] versus 25.4% [143/562]; odds ratio 0.544, 95% confidence interval 0.398-0.739). CONCLUSION: Abdominal angiography is shown to be of benefit for adult patients with blunt liver injury in terms of their lower in-hospital mortality.

Abdominal angiography is associated with reduced in-hospital mortality among pediatric patients with blunt splenic and hepatic injury: A propensity-score-matching study from the national trauma registry in Japan.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to assess the association between the implementation of abdominal angiography and outcome among pediatric patients with blunt splenic or hepatic injury. METHODS: This was a retrospective observational study, with a study period of 14 years, from January 2004 to December 2017. Blunt-trauma patients with splenic or hepatic injury who were less than 19 years old were included in this study. We used propensity-score-(PS) matching analysis to assess the relationship between abdominal angiography and in-hospital mortality. RESULTS: In total, 639 patients were eligible for analysis, with 257 patients included in the abdominal-angiography group and 382 patients in the no-abdominal-angiography group. After PS matching, 224 patients from each group were selected. In the PS matched patients, in-hospital mortality was lower in the abdominal-angiography group than in the no-abdominal-angiography group (4.9% vs. 11.2%, odds ratio 0.416, 95% confidence interval 0.177-0.903). CONCLUSION: In this population, the implementation of abdominal angiography was significantly associated with lower in-hospital mortality among pediatric patients with blunt splenic or hepatic injury compared with nonimplementation of abdominal angiography. TYPE OF STUDY: Prognosis study. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: III.

Clinical and Angiographic Features of Patients With Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest and Acute Myocardial Infarction.

BACKGROUND: Sudden cardiac arrest is a serious complication of acute myocardial infarction (MI). Although in-hospital mortality from MI has decreased, the mortality of MI patients complicated with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) remains high. However, the features of acute MI patients with OHCA have not been well known. OBJECTIVES: We sought to characterize the clinical and angiographic features of acute MI patients with OHCA comparing with those without OHCA. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 480 consecutive patients with acute MI undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention. Patients complicated with OHCA were compared with patients without OHCA. RESULTS: Of the patients, 141 (29%) were complicated with OHCA. Multivariate analysis revealed that age (odds ratio [OR]: 0.8; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.7 to 0.9 per 5 years; p < 0.001), estimated glomerular filtration rate (OR: 0.8; 95% CI: 0.7 to 0.8 per 10 ml/min/1.73 m2; p < 0.001), peak creatine kinase-myocardial band (OR: 1.3; 95% CI: 1.2 to 1.4 per 102 U/l; p < 0.001), calcium-channel antagonists use (OR: 0.4; 95% CI: 0.2 to 0.7; p = 0.002), the culprit lesion at the left main coronary artery (OR: 5.3; 95% CI: 1.9 to 15.1; p = 0.002), and the presence of chronic total occlusion (OR: 2.9; 95% CI: 1.5 to 5.7; p = 0.001) were significantly associated with OHCA. CONCLUSIONS: Younger age, no use of calcium-channel antagonists, worse renal function, larger infarct size, culprit lesion in the left main coronary artery, and having chronic total occlusion were associated with OHCA.

Bilateral vocal cord paralysis in a hanging survivor: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Complications in survivors after typical hanging have not been well characterized because of the high mortality rate. CASE PRESENTATION: We present a patient with bilateral vocal cord paralysis following typical hanging. A 39-year-old man with depression attempted suicide by hanging. He was in a coma and was transported to our hospital. Emergency endotracheal intubation was carried out. After 10 days of mechanical ventilation, he was extubated. After extubation, his voice was hoarse and stridor was heard. Vocal cord paralysis became apparent by laryngeal fiberscopy, and a tracheotomy was carried out. It resolved gradually 2 months after injury without surgery or drug treatment. CONCLUSION: Although vocal cord paralysis after typical hanging is rare, there is a need for adequate assessment of the airways in survivors of typical hanging as a differential diagnosis of airway edema after extubation.

Traumatic brain injury-related inflammatory projection: beyond local inflammatory responses.

Acute neuroinflammation induced by microglial activation is key for repair and recovery after traumatic brain injury (TBI) and could be necessary for the clearance of harmful substances, such as cell debris. However, recent clinical and preclinical data have shown that TBI causes chronic neuroinflammation, lasting many years in some cases, and leading to chronic neurodegeneration, dementia, and encephalopathy. To evaluate neuroinflammation in vivo, positron-emission tomography has been used to target translocator protein, which is upregulated in activated glial cells. Such studies have suggested that remote neuroinflammation induced by regional microglia persists even after reduced inflammatory responses at the injury site. Furthermore, unregulated inflammatory responses are associated with neurodegeneration. Therefore, elucidation of the role of neuroinflammation in TBI pathology is essential for developing new therapeutic targets for TBI. Treatment of associated progressive disorders requires a deeper understanding of how inflammatory responses to injury are triggered, sustained, and resolved and how they impact neuronal function. In this review, we provide a general overview of the dynamics of immune responses to TBI, from acute to chronic neuroinflammation. We discuss the clinical significance of remote ongoing neuroinflammation, termed "brain injury-related inflammatory projection". We also highlight positron-emission tomography imaging as a promising approach needing further development to facilitate an understanding of post-TBI inflammatory and neurodegenerative processes and to monitor the clinical effects of corresponding new therapeutic strategies.

Effectiveness of the hemoglobin index for screening of subarachnoid hemorrhage in out-of-hospital cardiopulmonary arrest patients: a retrospective observational study.

AIM: The hemoglobin index (HbI) represents the amount of hemoglobin, which reflects regional tissue blood volume. The HbI is calculated in real time by a regional oxygen saturation (rSO 2) monitor. For the hypothesis of our HbI project, we theorized that HbI could be a new method for the screening of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) in overcrowded emergency departments. As a first step, this study aimed to clarify the effectiveness of HbI in screening SAH in out-of-hospital cardiopulmonary arrest (OHCA) patients using the rSO 2 data of our previous studies. METHODS: In this single-center, retrospective, observational study, we examined HbI in patients with OHCA transferred to the Trauma and Acute Critical Care Center at Osaka University Hospital (Osaka, Japan) during the period between April 2013 and December 2015. A sensor attached to the patient's forehead monitored HbI continuously. RESULTS: Among 63 patients (40 men and 23 women; mean age, 76 [interquartile range (IQR), 66-85] years) with OHCA, five were diagnosed as having SAH (SAH group) and 58 were not (non-SAH group). The HbI values were significantly higher in the SAH group than in the non-SAH group (1.35 [IQR: 0.80-2.69] versus 0.41 [IQR: 0.32-0.61]), P = 0.0042). In the SAH group, with an HbI cut-off value of 1.18, the specificity and sensitivity were 96% and 80%, respectively, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of HbI was 0.89. CONCLUSIONS: The HbI might be useful for the screening of SAH in patients with OHCA. The application of HbI in the emergency department could be expected in the future.

Prehospital characteristics, incidence trends, and outcome of emergency self-inflicted injury patients with gas substances: a population-based descriptive study in Osaka, Japan.

AIM: Little is known about the detailed characteristics of patients using gas substances for self-inflicted injury in prehospital settings. The aim of this study was to investigate the characteristics, incidence trends, and outcomes of patients who used gas substances for self-inflicted injury in Osaka City, Japan, using ambulance records. METHODS: This was a retrospective observational study that used data from 2009 to 2015. We extracted details from ambulance records of self-inflicted injury patients who used gas substances. The annual incidence of self-inflicted injury by gas substance and age group and Poisson regression models were applied for calculating the annual incidence trend by type of gas substance. The main outcome was confirmed death at the scene, and we also calculated the crude odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for each gas substance. RESULTS: During the study period, there were 324 self-inflicted injury patients who used gas substances. The most commonly used gases were carbon monoxide (CO) (54.9%), followed by hydrogen sulfide (12.7%), helium (6.5%). The incidence of CO and hydrogen sulfide have subsequently decreased (P for trend = 0.023 and <0.001, respectively); however, the incidence of helium did not change during the study period (P for trend = 0.586). The mortality rate was highest in patients who used helium (66.7% [14/21]) and the crude odds ratio of helium was 3.857 (95% confidence interval, 1.267-11.745; P = 0.017) compared with hydrogen sulfide. CONCLUSION: This study revealed that the incidence of self-inflicted injury with helium did not change and its proportion of death at the scene was high in Osaka City.

Fulminant phlegmonitis of the esophagus, stomach, and duodenum due to Bacillus thuringiensis.

We report a case of phlegmonitis of the esophagus, stomach, and duodenum in patient in an immunocompromised state. Culture of gastric juice and blood yielded Bacillus thuringiensis. This case showed that even low-virulence bacilli can cause lethal gastrointestinal phlegmonous gastritis in conditions of immunodeficiency.

Altered balance of the aminogram in patients with sepsis - the relation to mortality.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Protein metabolism is important in healing wounds, supporting immune function, and maintaining lean body mass. Determination of adequate requirements of amino acids has not been thoroughly clarified in critically ill patients. The purpose of this study was to evaluate 23 plasma amino acids in patients with sepsis and determine prognostic factors. METHODS: This study was a retrospective study. Plasma aminograms were measured in patients with sepsis. We evaluated minimum and maximum values of each amino acid and evaluated prognostic factors by multivariate logistic regression analysis and classification and regression tree (CART) analysis. RESULTS: The study comprised 77 patients. The median intensive care unit (ICU) stay was 30 days (interquartile range 19.5-55.5 days). Whole mortality rate was 39.0%. Maximum values of glutamine, glutamate, glycine, alanine, methionine, phenylalanine, and histidine and minimum values of glutamate, taurine, serine, isoleucine, leucine, tyrosine, ornithine, tryptophan, and arginine were significantly different between survivors and non-survivors (P < 0.05). Statistical analysis using CART analysis revealed the minimum value of glutamate and maximum value of methionine to be significant prognostic factors for mortality (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Plasma aminograms were significantly altered in patients with sepsis. Altered balance of aminograms was significantly associated with mortality in patients with sepsis requiring a long ICU stay.