Positive emotions for promoting quality improvement of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation therapy for COVID-19: In situ interprofessional simulation.

Aim: The requirement during the COVID-19 pandemic to provide extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) treatment regardless of experience caused high levels of anxiety among healthcare professionals. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an in situ interprofessional simulation training conducted to improve readiness and preparedness for ECMO management of patients with COVID-19 at a non-high-volume ECMO centre. Methods: Three emergency physicians, three clinical engineers and two nurses attended the 3-h simulation held at Hirosaki University Hospital in December 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The training comprised a 30-min briefing, a 1-h ECMO circuit change session, a 1-h in-hospital transfer simulation for CT and a 30-min debriefing. Before and after the training, participants completed an online survey of their emotions, based on the Japanese version of the Medical Emotion Scale (J-MES). Related-samples Wilcoxon signed rank test was used to assess potential changes in emotional responses before and after the simulation, and p < 0.05 was considered to indicate significance. Results: Participants' positive deactivating emotions increased from a median of 3.3 (range, 2.0-4.5) before the simulation to 4.0 (range, 2.5-5.0) after the simulation (p = 0.02), which indicates favourable performance according to the control value theory of educational psychology. There was no statistically significant change in other emotional categories. Conclusion: Participants' positive deactivating emotions increased significantly following an in situ ECMO simulation training, which indicates the efficacy of the training for improving the quality of ECMO management in patients with COVID-19.

Effects of rewarming therapies on outcomes in accidental hypothermia: A secondary analysis of a multicenter prospective study.

BACKGROUND: Rewarming therapies for accidental hypothermia (AH) include extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and non-ECMO related (conventional) therapies. However, there are limited data available to inform the selection of conventional rewarming therapy. The aim of the present study was to explore what patients' factors and which rewarming therapy predicted favorable prognosis. METHODS: This study is a secondary analysis of the Intensive Care with Extra Corporeal membrane oxygenation Rewarming in Accidentally Severe Hypothermia (ICE-CRASH) study, a multicenter prospective, observational study conducted in Japan. Enrolled in the ICE-CRASH study were patients aged ≥18 years with a core temperature of ≤32 °C who were transported to the emergency departments of 36 tertiary care hospitals in Japan between 1 December 2019 and 31 March 2022, among whom those who were rewarmed with conventional rewarming therapy were included in the present study. Logistic regression analysis was performed with 28-day survival as the objective variable; and seven factors including age, activities of daily living (ADL) independence, sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score, and each rewarming technique as explanatory variables. We performed linear regression analysis to identify whether each rewarming technique was associated with rewarming rate. RESULTS: Of the 499 patients enrolled in the ICE-CRASH study, 371 were eligible for this secondary analysis. The median age was 81 years, 50.9% were male, and the median initial body temperature was 28.8 °C. Age (odds ratio [OR]: 0.97, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.94-1.00) and SOFA score (OR: 0.73, 95% CI: 0.67-0.81) were associated with lower survival, whereas ADL independence (OR: 2.31, 95% CI: 1.15-4.63) was associated with higher survival. No conventional rewarming therapy was associated with 28-day survival. Hot bath was associated with a high rewarming rate (regression coefficient: 1.14, 95% CI: 0.75-1.53). CONCLUSION: No conventional rewarming therapy was associated with improved 28-day survival, which suggests that background factors such as age, ADL, and severity of condition contribute more to prognosis than does the selection of rewarming technique.

Differential diagnosis of lipoma and atypical lipomatous tumor/well-differentiated liposarcoma by cytological analysis.

BACKGROUND: Adipocytic tumors are the most common soft tissue tumors, with lipomas and atypical lipomatous tumor/well-differentiated liposarcomas (ALT/WDL), which comprise most cases. Preoperative differential diagnosis of lipoma or ALT/WDL can provide important information for decisions regarding treatment. We evaluated the cytological findings of 20 cases of lipoma and ALT/WDL. METHODS: Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was performed on formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded specimens (FFPE) to examine mouse double minute 2 homolog (MDM2) amplification in all cases. Tissue samples were collected from the center of the surgical materials, stained with Pap, and evaluated for 12 cytological parameters by six cytotechnologists. RESULTS: The findings regarding large atypical cells, multinucleated cells, and nuclear pleomorphism were highly concordant among the cytotechnologists and were associated with MDM2 amplification. Large atypical cells, considered a highly specific feature of ALT/WDL, were not observed in lipoma cases. However, the sensitivity of the large atypical cell findings was not high (67%); therefore, comprehensive evaluation of multinucleated cells and pleomorphism is crucial for predicting ALT/WDL diagnosis. FISH of MDM2 on Pap-stained specimens was performed in four cases. In two, the results were similar to those of MDM2 FISH performed on FFPE sections and were reproducible, whereas in the other two, the signal could not be evaluated because of the strong background coloration. CONCLUSIONS: Cytology specimens may be useful for the preoperative diagnosis of adipocytic tumors, particularly if the FISH conditions for Pap-stained specimens and the detection accuracy of MDM2 amplification can be improved.

Rapid Access to Dispirocyclic Scaffolds Enabled by Diastereoselective Intramolecular Double Functionalization of Benzene Rings.

Here we describe the diastereoselective synthesis of (5r,8r)-1,9-diazadispiro[4.2.48 .25 ]tetradecatrienes via domino double spirocyclization of N-arylamide derivatives. This reaction can serve as a fast way to synthesize diazadispirocycles, which are found in the core structures of bioactive natural products. Product diversification via Suzuki-Miyaura cross coupling and application to the synthesis of 1-oxa-9-azadispiro[4.2.48 .25 ]tetradecatrienes were also conducted.