Prevalence of low-normal body temperatures and use of active warming in emergency department patients presenting with severe infection.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the prevalence of low-normal body temperatures in emergency department (ED) patients presenting with severe infection, and to determine whether active warming is used in this setting. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: We performed a singlecentre retrospective cohort study in ED patients with community-acquired infection who required admission to the intensive care unit (ICU). Temperatures recorded from presentation up until 24 hours in the ICU were extracted from the patients' clinical records. Body temperatures were then classified as low (≤ 36.4°C), normothermic (36.5-37.9°C) or fever ≥ 38°C. RESULTS: Over the study period, 574 patients were admitted to the ICU with infection. Of them, 151 fulfilled the inclusion criteria, and the in-hospital mortality rate for these patients was 8.6%. On presentation, 22.5% (34 patients) had a low body temperature (35-35.9°C for six patients, and < 35.0°C for three patients). In contrast, 26.5% (40 patients) had a temperature ≥ 38.0°C. Among those who presented with low temperature, the median time to reach normothermia was 7.9 hours (range, 3.3-14.0 hours). Active warming was only applied to one patient, (whose body temperature was < 35°C). CONCLUSION: Among patients with community-acquired infection requiring ICU admission, about a quarter have a low temperature and active warming was essentially not applied. These findings suggest that active warming of such patients would likely achieve separation from usual care.

Loss of response to long-term infliximab therapy in children with Crohn's disease.

Secondary loss of response (LoR) often precludes further use of infliximab in children with Crohn's disease. Immunomodulators may reduce the incidence of LoR but their combination with infliximab presents safety concerns. We aimed to determine the long-term durability of infliximab response in paediatric Crohn's, effect of immunomodulators on LoR, and secondarily the effect of infliximab on growth. We retrospectively audited patients on maintenance infliximab at a single centre. Data included height and weight, Paediatric Crohn's Disease Activity Index (PCDAI), and immunomodulator use. 71 children (32% female, mean age 14.4 years) had been commenced on maintenance infliximab before July 2011. 89% had been on immunomodulators concurrently with infliximab. LoR occurred in 20 (28%), with a median time to LoR of 4.31 years. LoR was significantly increased in children who did not enter remission (PCDAI ≤ 10) after induction (p < 0.05). LoR occurred more frequently in the 72% who ceased immunomodulators, but this failed to reach statistical significance (p = 0.300). Height and weight SDS improved significantly on infliximab. Infliximab is a durable long-term therapy for paediatric Crohn's refractory to conventional therapy. A large-magnitude increase in the rate of loss of response after immunomodulator cessation was not observed.

Biologics in paediatric Crohn's disease.

Crohn's disease affects increasing numbers of children worldwide. Generally, childhood-onset disease runs a more severe course than in adults and has a greater impact on quality of life. Therapy in children must take account of a different set of risks for toxicity compared to adults, but also to their longevity. Biologic drugs present remarkable advantages in terms of disease control for children, especially in those whose disease cannot be controlled with conventional therapies, but their long-term risks are still being assessed. Data regarding biologic use in children is limited and mostly amounts to case series, but results have been promising, both in terms of controlling disease activity and improving growth parameters. Adverse reactions are infrequent in the short term, but loss of response is a long-term problem, particularly in children. More information is needed about very long term risks. Infliximab and adalimumab are the most studied agents in children, while there is relatively limited data on certolizumab and natalizumab. Further collection of data on these agents is still needed, but this should not restrict access to these agents for children in whom no other agent is effective.