Description and pilot evaluation of the Metabolic Irregularities Narrowing down Device software: a case analysis of physician programming.

BACKGROUND: There is a gap between the abilities and the everyday applications of Computerized Decision Support Systems (CDSSs). This gap is further exacerbated by the different 'worlds' between the software designers and the clinician end-users. Software programmers often lack clinical experience whereas practicing physicians lack skills in design and engineering. OBJECTIVE: Our primary objective was to evaluate the performance of Metabolic Irregularities Narrowing down Device (MIND) intelligent medical calculator and differential diagnosis software through end-user surveys and discuss the roles of CDSS in the inpatient setting. SETTING: A tertiary care, teaching community hospital. STUDY PARTICIPANTS: Thirty-one responders answered the survey. Responders consisted of medical students, 24%; attending physicians, 16%, and residents, 60%. RESULTS: About 62.5% of the responders reported that MIND has the ability to potentially improve the quality of care, 20.8% were sure that MIND improves the quality of care, and only 4.2% of the responders felt that it does not improve the quality of care. Ninety-six percent of the responders felt that MIND definitely serves or has the potential to serve as a useful tool for medical students, and only 4% of the responders felt otherwise. Thirty-five percent of the responders rated the differential diagnosis list as excellent, 56% as good, 4% as fair, and 4% as poor. DISCUSSION: MIND is a suggesting, interpreting, alerting, and diagnosing CDSS with good performance and end-user satisfaction. In the era of the electronic medical record, the ongoing development of efficient CDSS platforms should be carefully considered by practicing physicians and institutions.

Transpulmonary hypothermia: a novel method of rapid brain cooling through augmented heat extraction from the lungs.

AIM: Delay in instituting neuroprotective measures after cardiac arrest increases death and decreases neuronal recovery. Current hypothermia methods are slow, ineffective, unreliable, or highly invasive. We report the feasibility of rapid hypothermia induction in swine through augmented heat extraction from the lungs. METHODS: Twenty-four domestic crossbred pigs (weight, 50-55kg) were ventilated with room air. Intraparenchymal brain temperature and core temperatures from pulmonary artery, lower esophagus, bladder, rectum, nasopharynx, and tympanum were recorded. In eight animals, ventilation was switched to cooled helium-oxygen mixture (heliox) and perfluorocarbon (PFC) aerosol and continued for 90min or until target brain temperature of 32°C was reached. Eight animals received body-surface cooling with water-circulating blankets; eight control animals continued to be ventilated with room air. RESULTS: Brain and core temperatures declined rapidly with cooled heliox-PFC ventilation. The brain reached target temperature within the study period (mean [SD], 66 [7.6]min) in only the transpulmonary cooling group. Cardiopulmonary functions and poststudy histopathological examination of the lungs were normal. CONCLUSION: Transpulmonary cooling is novel, rapid, minimally invasive, and an effective technique to induce therapeutic hypothermia. High thermal conductivity of helium and vaporization of PFC produces rapid cooling of alveolar gases. The thinness and large surface area of alveolar membrane facilitate rapid cooling of the pulmonary circulation. Because of differences in thermogenesis, blood flow, insulation, and exposure to the external environment, the brain cools at a different rate than other organs. Transpulmonary hypothermia was significantly faster than body surface cooling in reaching target brain temperature.

Patient impression and satisfaction of a self-administered, automated medical history-taking device in the Emergency Department.

INTRODUCTION: We evaluated patient impressions and satisfaction of an innovative self-administered, hand-held touch-screen tablet to gather detailed medical information from emergency department (ED) patients in the waiting room prior to physician contact. METHODS: Adult, medically stable patients presenting to the ED at Los Angeles County Hospital used the PatientTouch™ system to answer a series of questions about their current history of present illness and past medical/surgical histories in English or Spanish. Patients then completed a survey rating their experience. RESULTS: Among 173 participants, opinion of PatientTouch™ was strongly positive; 93.6% (95%CI 90.0-97.3%) felt the physical product was easy to hold and handle, and 97.1% (94.6-99.6%) felt the questions were detailed enough for them to fully describe their condition; 97.8% (95.4-100.0%) felt using PatientTouch™ would help them organize their thoughts and communicate better with their physician, 94.8% (91.4-98.1%) thought it would improve the quality of their care, and 97.1% (94.6-99.6%) expressed desire to use the product again in the future. CONCLUSION: The study was conducted at a largely Hispanic county ED, and only patients with 1 of 6 pre-determined chief complaints participated. We did not include a control group to assess if perceived improvements in communication translated to measurable differences. In this pilot study, patients were highly satisfied with all aspects of the PatientTouch™ self-administered, hand-held, touch-screen tablet. Importantly, subjects felt it would help them better communicate with their doctor, would improve their overall quality of care and overwhelmingly expressed a desire to use it in the future.

State of the art management of transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI).

Transfusion-Related Acute Lung Injury (TRALI) is the leading cause of transfusion-related mortality in most developed countries. Despite this fact, well-designed investigations on specific management strategies for TRALI are lacking. Indeed, current recommendations are primarily based on data extrapolated from trials of the histo-pathologically similar Acute Lung Injury and Acute Respiratory Distress Syndromes. The cornerstone of TRALI management is supportive care with oxygen supplementation and ventilatory assistance when needed. When mechanical ventilation is required, attenuating additional ventilator-induced lung injury through the avoidance of high tidal volumes and elevated airway pressures, with additional measures such as positive end-expiratory pressure to prevent low-volume shear stress injury, are recommended. The literature is not currently sufficient to support either corticosteroids or statins as effective therapies in TRALI. Conservative fluid practices are desirable, provided care is taken to avoid hypotension. Preventative strategies have shown the most promise in mitigating this transfusion-related pulmonary complication. Specifically, conservative transfusion practices and deferral of high-plasma component donors who have, or at high risk of having, anti-human leukocyte antigen and/or anti-human neutrophil antigen antibodies have meaningfully impacted the incidence of TRALI. Future considerations for patients who are at increased risk for developing TRALI may include therapies such as anti-platelet agents and alternatives to traditional blood components such as prothrombin complex concentrates (PCC). However, these potential TRALI prevention strategies are insufficiently studied, have unclear risk/benefit profiles and cannot be currently recommended.