Vaccine strategies for prevention of community-acquired pneumonia in Canada: Who would benefit most from pneumococcal immunization?

OBJECTIVE: To describe the burden of pneumococcal disease and associated risk factors in the Canadian adult population, delineate available pneumococcal vaccines and associated efficacy and effectiveness data, and review current pneumococcal vaccine recommendations and community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) prevention strategies in Canada. QUALITY OF EVIDENCE: Pneumococcal vaccination guidelines from the Canadian National Advisory Committee on Immunization in 2013 and 2016 constitute level III evidence for CAP prevention in the Canadian adult population. MAIN MESSAGE: It is recommended that immunosuppressed adults of all ages receive the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) (grades A and B recommendations). In 2016, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization also recommended that all adults aged 65 years and older receive PCV13 (grade A recommendation) on an individual basis, followed by the 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (grade B recommendation). This update is based on a large clinical study that demonstrated PCV13 efficacy against vaccine-type CAP in this population. CONCLUSION: Physicians should focus on improving pneumococcal vaccination rates among adults, which remain low. Vaccination with PCV13 should also be considered for adults with chronic conditions, whose baseline risk is often higher than that for healthy individuals aged 65 years and older.

Corticosteroid use in the intensive care unit: a survey of intensivists.

OBJECTIVE: The efficacy of systemic corticosteroids in many critical illnesses remains uncertain. Our primary objective was to survey intensivists in North America about their perceived use of corticosteroids in clinical practice. DESIGN: Self-administered paper survey. POPULATION: Intensivists in academic hospitals with clinical trial expertise in critical illness. MEASUREMENTS: We generated questionnaire items in focus groups and refined them after assessments of clinical sensibility and test-retest reliability and pilot testing. We administered the survey to experienced intensivists practicing in selected North American centres actively enrolling patients in the multicentre Oscillation for ARDS Treated Early (OSCILLATE) Trial (ISRCTN87124254). Respondents used a four-point scale to grade how frequently they would administer corticosteroids in 14 clinical settings. They also reported their opinions on 16 potential near-absolute indications or contraindications for the use of corticosteroids. MAIN RESULTS: Our response rate was 82% (103/125). Respondents were general internists (50%), respirologists (22%), anesthesiologists (21%), and surgeons (7%) who practiced in mixed medical-surgical units. A majority of respondents reported almost always prescribing corticosteroids in the setting of significant bronchospasm in a mechanically ventilated patient (94%), recent corticosteroid use and low blood pressure (93%), and vasopressor-refractory septic shock (52%). Although more than half of respondents stated they would almost never prescribe corticosteroids in severe community-acquired pneumonia (81%), acute lung injury (ALI, 76%), acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS, 65%), and severe ARDS (51%), variability increased with severity of acute lung injury. Near-absolute indications selected by most respondents included known adrenal insufficiency (99%) and suspicion of cryptogenic organizing pneumonia (89%), connective tissue disease (85%), or other potentially corticosteroid-responsive illnesses (85%). CONCLUSIONS: Respondents reported rarely prescribing corticosteroids for ALI, but accepted them for bronchospasm, suspected adrenal insufficiency due to previous corticosteroid use, and vasopressor-refractory septic shock. These competing indications will complicate the design and interpretation of any future large-scale trial of corticosteroids in critical illness.

Optimal VAsopressor TitraTION in patients 65 years and older (OVATION-65): protocol and statistical analysis plan for a randomised clinical trial.

INTRODUCTION: Vasodilatory hypotension is common among intensive care unit (ICU) patients; vasopressors are considered standard of care. However, optimal mean arterial pressure (MAP) targets for vasopressor titration are unknown. The objective of the Optimal VAsopressor TitraTION in patients 65 years and older (OVATION-65) trial is to ascertain the effect of permissive hypotension (vasopressor titration to achieve MAP 60-65 mm Hg) versus usual care on biomarkers of organ injury in hypotensive patients aged ≥65 years. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: OVATION-65 is an allocation-concealed randomised trial in 7 Canadian hospitals. Eligible patients are ≥65 years of age, in an ICU with vasodilatory hypotension, receiving vasopressors for ≤12 hours to maintain MAP ≥65 mm Hg during or after adequate fluid resuscitation, and expected to receive vasopressors for ≥6 additional hours. Patients are excluded for any of the following: active treatment for spinal cord or acute brain injury; vasopressors given solely for bleeding, ventricular failure or postcardiopulmonary bypass vasoplegia; withdrawal of life-sustaining treatments expected within 48 hours; death perceived as imminent; previous enrolment in OVATION-65; organ transplant within the last year; receiving extracorporeal life support or lack of physician equipoise. Patients are randomised to permissive hypotension versus usual care for up to 28 days. The primary outcome is high-sensitivity troponin T, a biomarker of cardiac injury, on day 3. Secondary outcomes include biomarkers of injury to other organs (brain, liver, intestine, skeletal muscle); lactate (a biomarker of global tissue dysoxia); resource utilisation; adverse events; mortality (90 days and 6 months) and cognitive function (6 months). Assessors of biomarkers, mortality and cognitive function are blinded to allocation. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This protocol has been approved at all sites. Consent is obtained from the eligible patient, the substitute decision-maker if the patient is incapable, or in a deferred fashion where permitted. End-of-grant dissemination plans include presentations, publications and social media platforms and discussion forums. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT03431181.

Right upper lobe lung cancer: Resection through left anterior mediastinotomy.

There is sparse information concerning approaches to metachronous lung cancer in patients who had a previous pneumonectomy for lung carcinoma. We describe the case of a 55-year-old woman who underwent a left pneumonectomy for lung carcinoma. Four years later, a radiological examination revealed a hypermetabolic nodule in the right upper lobe, which was located in the left hemithorax because of right lung hyperinflation and a mediastinal shift to the left. Wedge resection was carried out through a left anterior mediastinotomy. We believe that an anterior mediastinotomy represents a valuable option for the management of recurrent lung cancer after previous surgery.

Mediastinal Abscess Following Endobronchial Ultrasound Transbronchial Needle Aspiration in a Patient With Sarcoidosis.

Endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) is a minimally invasive procedure with a low rate of complications. It is used in the diagnosis of malignant and benign disease such as sarcoidosis. We report a case a 42-year-old man who had undergone EBUS-TBNA for diagnosis of mediastinal and hilar lymph node enlargement. Sarcoidosis was diagnosed on cytologic examination. Three weeks after the procedure, he developed a mediastinal abscess secondary to EBUS-TBNA. Sarcoidosis may be a risk factor for mediastinal infection complication. A local immune defect related to sarcoidosis may explain this risk. Our case underlines the importance of considering and recognizing this complication, and its possibility should be taken into account when undertaking the procedure for benign disease.