Heatstroke: a multicenter study in Southwestern China.

Background: An increase in Heatstroke cases occurred in southwest China in 2022 due to factors like global warming, abnormal temperature rise, insufficient power supply, and other contributing factors. This resulted in a notable rise in Heatstroke patients experiencing varying degrees of organ dysfunction. This descriptive study aims to analyze the epidemiology and clinical outcomes of Heatstroke patients in the ICU, providing support for standardized diagnosis and treatment, ultimately enhancing the prognosis of Heatstroke. Methods: A retrospective, multicenter, descriptive analysis was conducted on Heatstroke patients admitted to ICUs across 83 hospitals in southwest China. Electronic medical records were utilized for data collection, encompassing various aspects such as epidemiological factors, onset symptoms, complications, laboratory data, concurrent infections, treatments, and patient outcomes. Results: The dataset primarily comprised classic heatstroke, with 477 males (55% of total). The patient population had a median age of 72 years (range: 63-80 years). The most common initial symptoms were fever, mental or behavioral abnormalities, and fainting. ICU treatment involved respiratory support, antibiotics, sedatives, and other interventions. Among the 700 ICU admissions, 213 patients had no infection, while 487 were diagnosed with infection, predominantly lower respiratory tract infection. Patients presenting with neurological symptoms initially (n = 715) exhibited higher ICU mortality risk compared to those without neurological symptoms (n = 104), with an odds ratio of 2.382 (95% CI 1.665, 4.870) (p = 0.017). Conclusion: In 2022, the majority of Heatstroke patients in southwest China experienced classical Heatstroke, with many acquiring infections upon admission to the ICU. Moreover, Heatstroke can result in diverse complications.

Gastrointestinal manifestations of critical ill heatstroke patients and their associations with outcomes: A multicentre, retrospective, observational study.

BACKGROUND: Extreme heat exposure is a growing health problem, and the effects of heat on the gastrointestinal (GI) tract is unknown. This study aimed to assess the incidence of GI symptoms associated with heatstroke and its impact on outcomes. AIM: To assess the incidence of GI symptoms associated with heatstroke and its impact on outcomes. METHODS: Patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) due to heatstroke were included from 83 centres. Patient history, laboratory results, and clinically relevant outcomes were recorded at ICU admission and daily until up to day 15, ICU discharge, or death. GI symptoms, including nausea/vomiting, diarrhoea, flatulence, and bloody stools, were recorded. The characteristics of patients with heatstroke concomitant with GI symptoms were described. Multivariable regression analyses were performed to determine significant predictors of GI symptoms. RESULTS: A total of 713 patients were included in the final analysis, of whom 132 (18.5%) patients had at least one GI symptom during their ICU stay, while 26 (3.6%) suffered from more than one symptom. Patients with GI symptoms had a significantly higher ICU stay compared with those without. The mortality of patients who had two or more GI symptoms simultaneously was significantly higher than that in those with one GI symptom. Multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed that older patients with a lower GCS score on admission were more likely to experience GI symptoms. CONCLUSION: The GI manifestations of heatstroke are common and appear to impact clinically relevant hospitalization outcomes.

Prognostic Value of the Baseline and Early Changes in Monocyte-to-Lymphocyte Ratio for Short-Term Mortality among Critically Ill Patients with Acute Kidney Injury.

(1) Background: Inflammation plays an important role in the onset and progression of acute kidney injury (AKI). Despite this, evidence regarding the prognostic effect of the monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio (MLR), a novel systemic inflammation marker, among patients with AKI is scarce. This study sets out to investigate the prognostic potential of both baseline and early changes in MLR for short-term mortality among critically ill patients with AKI. (2) Method: Eligible patients with AKI from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care IV database were retrospectively analyzed. MLR cutoff values were determined using maximally selected rank statistics and tertiles. The clinical outcomes were 30-day and 90-day mortality in the intensive care unit. A restricted cubic splines model and Cox proportional hazards models were utilized to evaluate the association between the baseline MLR and short-term mortality. Then, the trends in MLR over time were compared between the 30-day survivors and non-survivors using a generalized additive mixed model (GAMM). (3) Result: A total of 15,986 patients were enrolled. Multivariable Cox regression analysis identified baseline MLR ≥ 0.48 as an independent risk factor predicting 30-day mortality (HR 1.33, 95%CI 1.24, 1.45, p < 0.001) and 90-day mortality (HR 1.34, 95%CI 1.23, 1.52, p < 0.001) after adjusting for potential confounders. Similar trends were observed for 30-day and 90-day mortality when tertiles were used to group patients. The restricted cubic splines model revealed a non-linear association between MLR and 30-day and 90-day mortality (both p for non-linear < 0.001, both p for overall < 0.001). The area under the curve of 0.64 for MLR was higher than that of monocytes (0.55) and lymphocytes (0.61). In the subgroup analyses, despite the noted significant interactions, the direction of the observed association between MLR and 30-day mortality was consistent across most prespecified subgroups, except for shock and black ethnicity. The GAMM results highlighted that, as time went on, MLR in the 30-day survival group consistently declined, whereas MLR in the non-survival group rose within 15 days post-ICU admission. The difference between the two groups persisted significantly even after adjusting for confounders (p = 0.006). (4) Conclusion: A higher baseline MLR was identified as an independent risk factor predicting 30-day and 90-day mortality. The early increase in MLR was associated with high 30-day mortality, suggesting that dynamic monitoring of MLR could potentially better predict survival in critically ill patients with AKI.

Risk Factor Analysis and Nomogram for Predicting In-Hospital Mortality in ICU Patients with Heat Stroke: A National Multicenter Study.

Objective: The aim of this nationwide multicenter study was to ascertain the risk factors associated with in-hospital mortality in patients with heat stroke admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) and to develop a nomogram for prognostic prediction. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on clinical data collected from ICU patients diagnosed with heat stroke across multiple centers nationwide. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to identify significant risk factors for in-hospital mortality. Based on the results of the multivariate analysis, a nomogram was constructed to estimate the individualized probability of mortality. Internal validation of the nomogram was performed, and its performance was assessed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, calibration plots, and decision curve analysis (DCA). Results: A total of 292 ICU patients with heat stroke were included in this study. Three risk factors, namely Cr (creatinine), AST (aspartate aminotransferase), and SBP (systolic blood pressure), were found to be significantly associated with in-hospital mortality. These risk factors were incorporated into the nomogram, which exhibited good discriminative ability (area under the ROC curve of the training and validation cohorts were 0.763 and 0.739, respectively) and calibration. Internal validation and decision curve analysis confirmed the stability and reliability of the nomogram. Conclusion: This nationwide multicenter study identified key risk factors for in-hospital mortality in ICU patients with heat stroke. The developed nomogram provides an individualized prediction of mortality risk and can serve as a valuable tool for clinicians in the assessment and management of ICU patients with heat stroke.

Albumin Corrected Anion Gap and the Risk of in-Hospital Mortality in Patients with Acute Pancreatitis: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Purpose: To explore the prognostic value of albumin corrected anion gap (ACAG) within 24 hours of admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) for acute pancreatitis (AP). Patients and Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study. Adult AP patients admitted to ICU from June 2016 to December 2019 were included in the study, who were divided into three groups according to initial serum ACAG within 24 hours upon ICU admission: ACAG ≤ 14.87 mmol/L, 14.87 < ACAG ≤ 19.03 mmol/L, and ACAG > 19.03 mmol/L. The primary study outcome indicator was in-hospital mortality. Age, sex, Glasgow Coma Scale score, and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) score were matched through propensity score matching (PSM) method to balance the baseline between the survivors and non-survivors. Multivariate Cox regression was used to determine the relationship between ACAG and in-hospital mortality. Results: A total of 344 patients (of them 81 non-survivors) were analyzed in this study. Patients with higher ACAG intended to present significantly higher in-hospital mortality, APACHE II score, creatine, lower albumin, and bicarbonate. Multivariate Cox regression analysis after matching demonstrated that white blood cell count, platelet count, and higher ACAG were independently associated with higher in-hospital mortality (ACAG ≤ 14.87 as a reference, 14.87 < ACAG ≤ 19.03 mmol/L with HR of 2.34 and 95% CI of 1.15-4.76, ACAG >19.03 with HR of 3.46 and 95% CI of 1.75-6.84). Conclusion: Higher ACAG was independently associated with higher in-hospital mortality in patients with AP after matching the baseline between the survivors and non-survivors.

CONUT score is associated with short-term prognosis in patients with severe acute pancreatitis: a propensity score matching cohort study.

Background: The Controlling Nutritional Status (CONUT) score was designed to assess the immune-nutritional status in patients. This study aimed to investigate the role of the CONUT score in the short-term prognosis of severe acute pancreatitis. Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study. 488 patients with severe acute pancreatitis at the Department of Critical Care Medicine of the West China Hospital of Sichuan University (Chengdu, China) were enrolled in the study. Baseline data were collected from the West China Hospital of Sichuan University database. The primary outcome during follow-up was all-cause mortality. The secondary outcomes were 28 day mortality, renal insufficiency, length of stay (LOS) in the ICU, and length of stay (LOS) in the hospital. Patients were divided into two groups based on a median CONUT score of 7, and baseline differences between the two groups were eliminated by propensity matching. Univariate Cox regression analyses were performed to estimate the association between CONUT score and outcomes. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate the survival rate of patients. Results: CONUT score was an independent predictor of all-cause mortality (hazard ratio [HR]:2.093; 95%CI: 1.342-3.263; p < 0.001) and 28 day mortality (hazard ratio [HR]:1.813; 95%CI: 1.135-2.896; p < 0.013). CONUT score was not statistically significant in predicting the incidence of renal insufficiency. The high CONUT group had significantly higher all-cause mortality (p < 0.001), and 28 day mortality (p < 0.011) than the low CONUT group. Conclusion: The CONUT score is an independent predictor of short-term prognosis in patients with severe acute pancreatitis, and timely nutritional support is required to reduce mortality in patients with severe acute pancreatitis.

Effectiveness of eHealth Self-management Interventions in Patients With Heart Failure: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Heart failure (HF) is a common clinical syndrome associated with substantial morbidity, a heavy economic burden, and high risk of readmission. eHealth self-management interventions may be an effective way to improve HF clinical outcomes. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to systematically review the evidence for the effectiveness of eHealth self-management in patients with HF. METHODS: This study included only randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that compared the effects of eHealth interventions with usual care in adult patients with HF using searches of the EMBASE, PubMed, CENTRAL (Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials), and CINAHL databases from January 1, 2011, to July 12, 2022. The Cochrane Risk of Bias tool (RoB 2) was used to assess the risk of bias for each study. The Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) criteria were used to rate the certainty of the evidence for each outcome of interest. Meta-analyses were performed using Review Manager (RevMan v.5.4) and R (v.4.1.0 x64) software. RESULTS: In total, 24 RCTs with 9634 participants met the inclusion criteria. Compared with the usual-care group, eHealth self-management interventions could significantly reduce all-cause mortality (odds ratio [OR] 0.83, 95% CI 0.71-0.98, P=.03; GRADE: low quality) and cardiovascular mortality (OR 0.74, 95% CI 0.59-0.92, P=.008; GRADE: moderate quality), as well as all-cause readmissions (OR 0.82, 95% CI 0.73-0.93, P=.002; GRADE: low quality) and HF-related readmissions (OR 0.77, 95% CI 0.66-0.90, P<.001; GRADE: moderate quality). The meta-analyses also showed that eHealth interventions could increase patients' knowledge of HF and improve their quality of life, but there were no statistically significant effects. However, eHealth interventions could significantly increase medication adherence (OR 1.82, 95% CI 1.42-2.34, P<.001; GRADE: low quality) and improve self-care behaviors (standardized mean difference -1.34, 95% CI -2.46 to -0.22, P=.02; GRADE: very low quality). A subgroup analysis of primary outcomes regarding the enrolled population setting found that eHealth interventions were more effective in patients with HF after discharge compared with those in the ambulatory clinic setting. CONCLUSIONS: eHealth self-management interventions could benefit the health of patients with HF in various ways. However, the clinical effects of eHealth interventions in patients with HF are affected by multiple aspects, and more high-quality studies are needed to demonstrate effectiveness.

Predictability of the Oxford classification of IgA nephropathy in Henoch-Schonlein purpura nephritis.

BACKGROUND: Whether the Oxford classification of immunoglobulin A nephropathy can be utilized to predict the adverse renal outcome of Henoch-Schonlein purpura nephritis (HSPN) has been long-debated. We, therefore, performed a meta-analysis to evaluate the prognostic value of Oxford classification lesions in HSPN. METHODS: We systematically searched Medline, EMBASE, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library for articles published from January 1970 to August 2020. Cohort and case-control studies investigating the correlation between the Oxford classification and renal outcome were included, the quality of which was assessed by the Newcastle-Ottawa scale criteria. The pooled odds ratios (ORs) with their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated with a random-effects model or a fixed-effects model depending on the heterogeneity. RESULTS: A total of 485 papers were reviewed and eventually 9 comparisons were included, providing data of 1688 patients with HSPN. ORs for adverse renal events were 2.83 (95% CI 1.84-4.35; P < 0.001), 1.96 (95% CI 1.28-2.98; P < 0.05), and 5.45 (95% CI, 3.15-9.45; P < 0.001) for patients with lesions of endocapillary hypercellularity (E), segmental sclerosis (S), and tubular atrophy /interstitial fibrosis (T), respectively, without significant heterogeneity (E: I2 = 0.0%; P = 0.498; S: I2 = 22.4%; P = 0.258; T: I2 = 33.6%; P = 0.171). Subgroup analysis adjusted for age also supported the results that E, S, and T lesions could serve as poor predictors (P < 0.05). Additionally, crescents (C) were strongly associated with renal outcome (OR 2.22; 95% CI 1.62-3.04; P < 0.001), with moderate heterogeneity (I2 = 49.3%; P = 0.066). However, it should be noted that it is not the presence but the proportions of crescent lesions that were related to the high risk of progression to adverse renal events, because the predictability of lower rates of crescent (C1, with crescents > 0 and ≤ 25%) was uncertain (OR 2.21; 95% CI 0.75-6.51; P > 0.05). Although the pooled OR revealed that lesions of mesangial hypercellularity (M) were correlated with poor renal prognosis (OR 2.41; 95% CI 1.07-5.43; P < 0.05), subgroup analysis separating children from adults indicated that there seemed to be no significant difference. CONCLUSIONS: Oxford classification, especially for E, S, T, and C, might be recommended for patients with HSPN, regardless of children and adults.

Delayed onset of fat embolus in the cerebral venous system after breast and hip augmentation: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Cerebral fat embolism (CFE) is a subtype of fat embolism syndrome which tends to cause ischemic cerebral infarction. Fat embolism in the cerebral venous system have not been reported. We hereby present a rare case of fat embolus formed in the cerebral venous system 10 days after cosmetic surgery, and describe our management of this patient. CASE PRESENTATION: A 26-year-old woman with the disturbance of consciousness and recurrent convulsions of the right upper extremity over a 21-h period was admitted to our hospital. The patient was initially diagnosed with haemorrhagic infarction, and cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) was suspected based on computed tomography (CT). A diagnosis of CFE was confirmed based on surgical findings. Breast and hip augmentation performed 10 days ago was considered the underlying cause. Drug-induced hypothermia, low molecular weight heparin, atorvastatin, dexamethasone, piperacillin/tazobactam, valproic acid, and mannitol were applied. On hospital day 30, she was discharged with a Montreal Cognitive Assessment score of 25. CONCLUSIONS: Fat embolism can occur in the cerebral venous system, and may mimic CVT symptoms rather than CFE symptoms. Early identification of the nature of the embolus is essential. The use of heparin may prevent secondary thrombus formation, and accelerate fat embolus decomposition.

Circulating Histones in Sepsis: Potential Outcome Predictors and Therapeutic Targets.

Sepsis is defined as a life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated host response to infection and is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Circulating histones (CHs), a group of damage-associated molecular pattern molecules mainly derived from neutrophil extracellular traps, play a crucial role in sepsis by mediating inflammation response, organ injury and death through Toll-like receptors or inflammasome pathways. Herein, we first elucidate the molecular mechanisms of histone-induced inflammation amplification, endothelium injury and cascade coagulation activation, and discuss the close correlation between elevated level of CHs and disease severity as well as mortality in patients with sepsis. Furthermore, current state-of-the-art on anti-histone therapy with antibodies, histone-binding proteins (namely recombinant thrombomodulin and activated protein C), and heparin is summarized to propose promising approaches for sepsis treatment.