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Predicting the prognosis of intensive care unit (ICU) patients is crucial because it may lead to patient stratification that would in turn help in appropriately distributing limited medical resources. This study, therefore, aimed to investigate the use of the urinary liver-type fatty acid-binding protein (L-FABP) semi-quantitative kit in rapidly predicting the prognosis of patients admitted to the ICU. We conducted a single-center, prospective, observational study wherein 100 consecutive patients admitted to the ICU with an indwelling bladder catheter were enrolled between April and October 2020. Urine specimens were collected at the time of admission (T1) and after 6 h (T2), and urinary L-FABP levels were semi-quantitatively measured. Based on the results, an L-FABP variation was defined as the change in L-FABP (negative, weakly positive, or strongly positive) from T1 to T2. Patients were divided into three groups (L-FABP decreased group, unchanged group, or increased group), following which we compared their 14-day mortality. Finally, a total of 79 patients were included in the analysis. In multivariate analysis, urinary L-FABP variation [Odds ratio (OR) = 14.327, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.819–112.868, p = 0.01] and lactate (OR = 1.234, 95%CI = 1.060–1.437, p = 0.01) were significantly associated with 14-day mortality. Urinary L-FABP variation at 6 h after admission was significantly associated with 14-day mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patients with dementia may forget to take their oral medications or may accidentally take too much. Furthermore, there are cases where people lick the medicine without recognizing it as a medicine or accidentally ingest it. An 88-year-old woman with a history of insomnia presented to the hospital, complaining of her weakness and mild loss of consciousness. Although her blood tests, imaging studies, and neurological findings were unremarkable, we noticed that her tongue was blue and determined that she had mistakenly taken flunitrazepam. This accidental ingestion was diagnosed as the cause of the symptoms. Patients with dementia report that they may take medicine by licking it, and some oral medicines have a coloring effect., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright © 2024, Ichibayashi et al.)

Background: Although the resuscitation rate for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients in Japan is increasing due to the widespread use of automated external defibrillators, the proportion of patients who can return to society remains low at approximately 7%. Many patients have poor neurological outcomes and cannot return to society because of post-resuscitation hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. While the resumption of cardiac rhythm is important for patients with OHCA, improving neurological outcomes and returning to society are also important., Objectives: To investigate whether perampanel, an antiepileptic drug that provides neurological protection against stroke and head injury, could improve neurological outcomes in patients resuscitated after OHCA., Methods: The participants included 33 patients with OHCA admitted to our hospital from January 2021 to June 2022 and 33 patients admitted before that time. Perampanel was administered to the patients in the intervention group immediately after resuscitation. We defined a  Cerebral Performance Category (CPC) score  of 1.2 as a good neurological outcome., Results: There was no significant difference in neurological outcomes at intensive care unit discharge between the intervention and non-intervention groups (number of CPC 1.2: 16/33 vs. 9/33); however, neurological outcomes at hospital discharge were significantly better in the intervention group (number of CPC 1.2: 19/33 vs. 9/33 P = 0.01)., Conclusion: The α-amino-3-hydroxyl-5-methyl-4-isoxazole-propionate receptor inhibitory and neuronal protective effects of perampanel may have inhibited the progression of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, which develops after the resumption of cardiac rhythm, and suppressed neuronal damage. Early administration of perampanel after resuscitation of patients with OHCA may improve neurological outcomes., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright © 2023, Nakamichi et al.)

Background: Heart rate (HR) predicts outcomes in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS), whereas the impact of HR on outcomes after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the impact of HR after resuscitation on outcomes after OHCA and whether the impact differs with OHCA etiology., Methods and results: Of 16,452 patients suffering from OHCA, this study analyzed 741 adults for whom HR after resuscitation was recorded by 12-lead electrocardiogram upon hospital arrival. Etiology of OHCA was categorized into 3 groups: ACS, non-ACS, and non-cardiac. Patients in each etiology group were further divided into tachycardia (>100 beats/min) and non-tachycardia (≤100 beats/min). The impact of HR on outcomes was evaluated in each group. Among the 741 patients, the mean age was 67.6 years and 497 (67.1%) patients were male. The primary outcome - 3-month all-cause mortality - was observed in 55.8% of patients. Tachycardia after resuscitation in patients with ACS was significantly associated with higher all-cause mortality at 3 months (P=0.002), but there was no significant association between tachycardia and mortality in non-ACS and non-cardiac etiology patients. In a multivariate analysis model, the incidence of tachycardia after resuscitation independently predicted higher 3-month all-cause mortality in OHCA patients with ACS (hazard ratio: 2.17 [95% confidence interval: 1.05-4.48], P=0.04)., Conclusions: Increased HR after resuscitation was associated with higher mortality only in patients with ACS.