In-hospital cardiac arrest rhythm analysis by anesthesiologists: a diagnostic performance study.

PURPOSE: In-hospital cardiac arrest is associated with high morbidity and mortality, with an overall survival rate at one year of approximately 13%. The first cardiac rhythm is often analyzed by anesthesiologist-intensivists. We aimed to determine the diagnostic performance of anesthesiologist-intensivists when distinguishing between shockable and nonshockable rhythms. METHODS: We conducted a simulation-based, multicentre, prospective, observational study between May 2019 and March 2020. The responses of the participants were used to calculate individual sensitivity (defined as the proportion of decisions to shock for shockable rhythms) and individual specificity (defined as the proportion of decisions not to shock for nonshockable rhythms). The main outcome measure was the overall diagnostic performance, defined as the overall sensitivity and specificity. Secondary outcome measures were the sensitivity and specificity of participants' decisions for each type of cardiac arrest rhythm and their decision-making times. RESULTS: Among the 267 physicians contacted, 179 (67%) completed the test. The median [interquartile range (IQR)] overall sensitivity was 88 [79-95]% and the median overall specificity was 86 [77-92]%. Among shockable rhythms, the median [IQR] sensitivity was 100 [100-100]% for ventricular tachycardia (VT), 100 [100-100]% for coarse ventricular fibrillation (VF), and 60 [20-100]% for fine VF. The median [IQR] specificities for nonshockable rhythms were 93 [86-100]% for asystole and 83 [72-86]% for pulseless electrical activity. The median decision times ranged from 2.0 to 3.5 sec. CONCLUSION: Anesthesiologist-intensivists were quickly and effectively able to analyze rhythms in this simulation-based study. Participants' sensitivity in deciding to deliver shocks for VT and coarse VF was excellent, while specificity of their decisions for pulseless electrical activity was insufficient.

RéSUMé: OBJECTIF: L'arrêt cardiaque intra-hospitalier est associé à une morbidité et mortalité élevées, associées à un taux de survie global à un an d'environ 13 %. Le premier rythme cardiaque est souvent analysé par des anesthésiologistes-intensivistes. Nous avons cherché à déterminer la performance diagnostique des anesthésiologistes-intensivistes à distinguer un rythme choquable d'un rythme non choquable. MéTHODE: Nous avons effectué une étude observationnelle prospective, multicentrique basée sur la simulation entre mai 2019 et mars 2020. Les réponses des participants ont été utilisées pour calculer la sensibilité individuelle (définie comme étant la proportion de décisions de choquer pour les rythmes choquables) et la spécificité individuelle (définie comme la proportion de décisions de ne pas choquer pour les rythmes non choquables). Le critère d'évaluation principal était la performance diagnostique globale, définie comme étant la sensibilité et la spécificité globales. Les critères d'évaluation secondaires étaient la sensibilité et la spécificité des décisions des participants pour chaque type de rythme d'arrêt cardiaque, ainsi que le temps de prise de décision. RéSULTATS: Parmi les 267 médecins contactés, 179 (67 %) ont complété le test. La sensibilité globale médiane [écart interquartile (ÉIQ)] était de 88 [79-95] % et la spécificité globale médiane était de 86 [77-92] %. Parmi les rythmes choquables, la sensibilité médiane [ÉIQ] était de 100 [100-100] % pour la tachycardie ventriculaire (TV), de 100 [100-100] % pour la fibrillation ventriculaire (FV) large et de 60 [20-100] % pour la FV fine. Les spécificités médianes [ÉIQ] pour les rythmes non choquables étaient de 93 [86-100] % pour l'asystolie et de 83 [72-86] % pour l'activité électrique sans pouls. Les temps de décision médians variaient de 2,0 à 3,5 secondes. CONCLUSION: Les anesthésiologistes-intensivistes ont été rapidement et efficacement en mesure d'analyser les rythmes dans cette étude basée sur la simulation. La sensibilité de prendre la décision d'administrer un choc pour une TV ou une FV était excellente pour les participants, tandis que la spécificité de cette décision pour l'activité électrique sans pouls était insuffisante.

Trends in major intensive care medicine journals: A machine learning approach.

PURPOSE: Intensive care medicine (ICM) has the particularity of being a multidisciplinary specialty and its literature reflects this multidisciplinarity. However, the proportion of each field in this literature and its trend dynamics are not known. The objective of this study was to analyze the ICM literature, extract latent topics and search for the presence of research trends. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Abstracts of original articles from the top ICM journals, from their inception until December 31st, 2019, were included. This corpus was fed into a structural topic modeling algorithm to extract latent semantic topics. The temporal distribution was then analyzed and the presence of trends was searched by Mann-Kendall trends tests. RESULTS: Finally, 49,276 articles from 10 journals were included. After topic modeling analysis and experts' feedback, 124 research topics were selected and labeled. Topics were categorized into 19 categories, the most represented being respiratory, fundamental and neurological research. Increasing trends were observed for research on mechanical ventilation and decreasing trends for cardiopulmonary resuscitation. CONCLUSIONS: This study reviewed all articles from major ICM journals in a comprehensive way. It provides a better understanding of ICM research landscape by analyzing the temporal evolution of latent research topics in the ICM literature.

Left Ventricular Outflow Tract Obstruction in Patients Treated With Milrinone for Cerebral Vasospasm: Case Report and Literature Review.

Subarachnoid hemorrhage is associated with high morbidity and mortality, and cerebral arterial vasospasm is one of its main complications that determines neurological prognosis. The use of intravenous milrinone is becoming more common in the treatment of vasospasm. This molecule has positive inotropic and vasodilating properties by inhibiting phosphodiesterase-3. Its most described side effects are cardiac arrhythmias and arterial hypotension. In this paper, we raise a new issue concerning milrinone and discuss an undescribed side effect of this treatment, left ventricular outflow tract obstruction (LVOTO). Dynamic LVOTO is a clinical situation favored by hypovolemia, decreased left ventricular afterload, and excessive inotropism that can lead to severe hemodynamic failure and pulmonary edema. To our knowledge, this is the first study describing milrinone-induced LVOTO. This could compromise cerebral perfusion and therefore the neurological prognosis of patients. While it is known that catecholamines may induce LVOTO, milrinone-induced LVOTO appears to be a new pathophysiological entity of which neurosurgical intensivists should be aware.