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International audience; Purpose: To report the incidence, risk factors, clinical presentation, and outcome predictors of severe leptospirosis requiring intensive care unit (ICU) admission in a temperate zone.Methods: LEPTOREA was a retrospective multicentre study conducted in 79 ICUs in metropolitan France. Consecutive adults admitted to the ICU for proven severe leptospirosis from January 2012 to September 2016 were included. Multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) and hierarchical classification on principal components (HCPC) were performed to distinguish different clinical phenotypes.Results: The 160 included patients (0.04% of all ICU admissions) had median values of 54 years [38-65] for age, 40 [28-58] for the SAPSII, and 11 [8-14] for the SOFA score. Hospital mortality was 9% and was associated with older age; worse SOFA score and early need for endotracheal ventilation and/or renal replacement therapy; chronic alcohol abuse and worse hepatic dysfunction; confusion; and higher leucocyte count. Four phenotypes were identified: moderately severe leptospirosis (n = 34, 21%) with less organ failure and better outcomes; hepato-renal leptospirosis (n = 101, 63%) with prominent liver and kidney dysfunction; neurological leptospirosis (n = 8, 5%) with the most severe organ failures and highest mortality; and respiratory leptospirosis (n = 17, 11%) with pulmonary haemorrhage. The main risk factors for leptospirosis contamination were contact with animals, contact with river or lake water, and specific occupations.Conclusions: Severe leptospirosis was an uncommon reason for ICU admission in metropolitan France and carried a lower mortality rate than expected based on the high severity and organ-failure scores. The identification in our population of several clinical presentations may help clinicians establish an appropriate index of suspicion for severe leptospirosis.

BACKGROUND: Growth-arrest-specific protein 6 (GAS6) is a vitamin K-dependent protein expressed by endothelial cells and leukocytes participating in cell survival, migration and proliferation and involved in many pathological situations. The aim of our study was to assess its implication in ARDS and its variation according to PEEP setting, considering that different cyclic stresses could alter GAS6 plasma levels. METHODS: Our subjects were enrolled in the ExPress study comparing a minimal alveolar distention (low-PEEP) ventilatory strategy to a maximal alveolar recruitment (high-PEEP) strategy in ARDS. Plasma GAS6, interleukin-8 (IL-8), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) levels were measured at day 0 and day 3 by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in blood samples prospectively collected during the study for a subset of 52 subjects included in 8 centers during year 2005. RESULTS: We found that GAS6 plasma level was elevated in the whole population at day 0: median 106 ng/mL IQR 77–139 ng/mL, with significant correlations with IL-8, the Simplified Acute Physiology Score II and the Organ Dysfunction and Infection scores. Statistically significant decreases in GAS6 and IL-8 plasma levels were observed between day 0 and day 3 in the high-PEEP group (P = .02); while there were no differences between day 0 and day 3 in the low-PEEP group. CONCLUSIONS: GAS6 plasma level is elevated in ARDS patients. The high-PEEP strategy is associated with a decrease in GAS6 and IL-8 plasma levels at day 3, without significant differences in day 28 mortality between the 2 groups. (Clinicaltrials.gov NCT00188058).

Acute respiratory distress syndrome might be associated with an increase in extravascular lung water index and pulmonary vascular permeability index, which can be measured by transpulmonary thermodilution. We tested whether extravascular lung water index and pulmonary vascular permeability index are independent prognostic factors in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome.Retrospective study.Medical intensive care unit.Two hundred consecutive acute respiratory distress syndrome patients (age = 57 ± 17, Simplified Acute Physiology Score II = 57 ± 20, overall day-28 mortality = 54%).Extravascular lung water index and pulmonary vascular permeability index were collected (PiCCO device, Pulsion Medical Systems) at each day of the acute respiratory distress syndrome episode.The maximum values of extravascular lung water index and pulmonary vascular permeability index recorded during the acute respiratory distress syndrome episode (maximum value of extravascular lung water index and maximum value of pulmonary vascular permeability index, respectively) were significantly higher in nonsurvivors than in survivors at day-28 (mean ± SD: 24 ± 10 mL/kg vs. 19 ± 7 mL/kg of predicted body weight, p0.001 [t-test] for maximum value of extravascular lung water index and median [interquartile range]: 4.4 [3.3-6.1] vs. 3.5 [2.8-4.4], p = 0.001 for maximum value of pulmonary vascular permeability index, Wilcoxon's test). In multivariate analyses, maximum value of extravascular lung water index or maximum value of pulmonary vascular permeability index, Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, maximum blood lactate, mean positive end-expiratory pressure, mean cumulative fluid balance, and the minimal ratio of arterial oxygen pressure over the inspired oxygen fraction were all independently associated with day-28 mortality. A maximum value of extravascular lung water index21 mL/kg predicted day-28 mortality with a sensitivity of (mean [95% confidence interval]) 54% (44-63)% and a specificity of 73% (63-82)%. The mortality rate was 70% in patients with a maximum value of extravascular lung water index21 mL/kg and 43% in the remaining patients (p = 0.0003). A maximum value of pulmonary vascular permeability index3.8 predicted day-28 mortality with a sensitivity of (mean [95% confidence interval]) 67% (57-76)% and a specificity of 65% (54-75)%. The mortality rate was 69% in patients with a maximum value of pulmonary vascular permeability index3.8 and 37% in the group with a maximum value of pulmonary vascular permeability index ≤ 3.8 (p0.0001).Extravascular lung water index and pulmonary vascular permeability index measured by transpulmonary thermodilution are independent risk factors of day-28 mortality in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome.

To evaluate to which extent the systemic arterial pulse pressure could be used as a surrogate of cardiac output for assessing the effects of a fluid challenge and of norepinephrine.Observational study.Medical intensive care unit.Patients with an acute circulatory failure who received a fluid challenge (228 patients, group 1) or in whom norepinephrine was introduced or increased (145 patients, group 2).We measured the systolic, diastolic, and mean arterial pressure, pulse pressure, and the transpulmonary thermodilution cardiac output before and after the therapeutic interventions.In group 1, the fluid challenge significantly increased cardiac output by 24% ± 25%. It significantly increased cardiac output by ≥15% (+35% ± 27%) in 142 patients ("responders"). The fluid-induced changes in cardiac output were correlated with the changes in pulse pressure (r = .56, p.0001), systolic arterial pressure (r = .55, p.0001), diastolic arterial pressure (r = .37, p.0001), and mean arterial pressure (r = .52, p.0001). At multivariate analysis, changes in pulse pressure were significantly related to changes in stroke volume (multiple r = .52) and to age (r = .12). A fluid-induced increase in pulse pressure of ≥17% allowed detecting a fluid-induced increase in cardiac output of ≥15% with a sensitivity of 65[56-72]% and a specificity of 85[76-92]%. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curves for the fluid-induced changes in mean arterial pressure and in diastolic arterial pressure was significantly lower than for pulse pressure. In group 2, the introduction/increase of norepinephrine significantly increased cardiac output by 14% ± 18%. The changes in cardiac output induced by the introduction/increase in the dose of norepinephrine were correlated with the changes in pulse pressure and systolic arterial pressure (r = .21 and .29, respectively, p = .001) but to a significantly lesser extent than in group 1.Pulse pressure and systolic arterial pressure could be used for detecting the fluid-induced changes in cardiac output, in spite of a significant proportion of false-negative cases. By contrast, the changes in pulse pressure and systolic arterial pressure were unable to detect the changes in cardiac output induced by norepinephrine.

OBJECTIVE: Fluid responsiveness requires the accurate measurement of cardiac output that can be approached by aortic blood flow (ABF) as measured by esophageal Doppler monitoring (EDM). EDM devices may either include an echo-determination of aortic diameter or estimate aortic diameter from nomograms and thus consider it as constant. However, it is unclear if measuring aortic diameter increases the accuracy of EDM to identify fluid responsiveness. Aortic diameter varies with arterial pressure such that its measure could be essential for assessing the changes in ABF during acute circulatory failure. We attempted to demonstrate that measuring aortic diameter improved the accuracy of EDM to assess fluid responsiveness. DESIGN: Prospective study. SETTING: University hospital intensive care unit. PATIENTS: Seventy-six patients with acute circulatory failure in whom a fluid challenge was given. INTERVENTIONS: Rapid volume expansion (500 mL of NaCl 0.9%). MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: We measured aortic velocity and area by EDM before and after fluid loading and evaluated the effects of fluid challenge on ABF, either measured after fluid infusion (measured ABF ) or estimated assuming an unchanging aortic area (estimated ABF ). If measured ABF was used for assessing fluid response, it was increased above 15% compared with ABF at baseline in 41 patients (responders). Conversely, estimated ABF increased above 15% from ABF at baseline in 27 patients only; that is, the effects of the challenge were underestimated in 14 patients. In these 14 patients, the relative change in mean arterial pressure during volume expansion was of greater magnitude than in patients who were classified as nonresponders by considering measured ABF . CONCLUSIONS: Monitoring the changes in aortic diameter improves the accuracy of EDM in assessing the hemodynamic effects of a fluid challenge, especially if it induces a large increase in arterial pressure. Estimating rather than measuring the aortic diameter may lead to underestimation of fluid responsiveness. Copyright © 2007 by the Society of Critical Care Medicine and Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. after after after after after

To test whether assessing pulmonary permeability by transpulmonary thermodilution enables to differentiate increased permeability pulmonary edema (ALI/ARDS) from hydrostatic pulmonary edema. Retrospective review of cases. A 24-bed medical intensive care unit of a university hospital. Forty-eight critically ill patients ventilated for acute respiratory failure with bilateral infiltrates on chest radiograph, a PaO2/FiO2 ratio

Values of central venous pressure of 8-12 mm Hg and of pulmonary artery occlusion pressure of 12-15 mm Hg have been proposed as volume resuscitation targets in recent international guidelines on management of severe sepsis. By analyzing a large number of volume challenges, our aim was to test the significance of the recommended target values in terms of prediction of volume responsiveness.Retrospective study.A 24-bed medical intensive care unit.All consecutive septic patients monitored with a pulmonary artery catheter who underwent a volume challenge between 2001 and 2004.None.A total of 150 volume challenges in 96 patients were reviewed. In 65 instances, the volume challenge resulted in an increase in cardiac index ofor =15% (responders). The pre-infusion central venous pressure was similar in responders and nonresponders (8 +/- 4 vs. 9 +/- 4 mm Hg). The pre-infusion pulmonary artery occlusion pressure was slightly lower in responders (10 +/- 4 vs. 11 +/- 4 mm Hg, p.05). However, the significance of pulmonary artery occlusion pressure to predict fluid responsiveness was poor and similar to that of central venous pressure, as indicated by low values of areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves (0.58 and 0.63, respectively). A central venous pressure of8 mm Hg and a pulmonary artery occlusion pressure of12 mm Hg predicted volume responsiveness with a positive predictive value of only 47% and 54%, respectively. With the knowledge of a low stroke volume index (30 mL.m), their positive predictive values were still unsatisfactory: 61% and 69%, respectively. When the combination of central venous pressure and pulmonary artery occlusion pressure was considered instead of either pressure alone, the degree of prediction of volume responsiveness was not improved.Our study demonstrates that cardiac filling pressures are poor predictors of fluid responsiveness in septic patients. Therefore, their use as targets for volume resuscitation must be discouraged, at least after the early phase of sepsis has concluded.

International audience; Acute renal failure (ARF) in critically ill patients is currently very frequent and requires renal replacement therapy (RRT) in many patients. During the last 15 years, several studies have considered important issues regarding the use of RRT in ARF, like the time to initiate the therapy, the dialysis dose, the types of catheter, the choice of technique, and anticoagulation. However, despite an abundant literature, conflicting results do not provide evidence on RRT implementation. We present herein recommendations for the use of RRT in adult and pediatric intensive care developed with the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) system by an expert group of French Intensive Care Society (SRLF), with the participation of the French Society of Anesthesia and Intensive Care (SFAR), the French Group for Pediatric Intensive Care and Emergencies (GFRUP), and the French Dialysis Society (SFD). The recommendations cover 4 fields: criteria for RRT initiation, technical aspects (access routes, membranes, anticoagulation, reverse osmosis water), practical aspects (choice of the method, peritoneal dialysis, dialysis dose, adjustments), and safety (procedures and training, dialysis catheter management, extracorporeal circuit set-up). These recommendations have been designed on a practical point of view to provide guidance for intensivists in their daily practice

To test whether fluid responsiveness can be predicted by the respiratory variation in aortic blood flow and/or the flow time corrected for heart rate monitored with esophageal Doppler. Prospective study in a 24-bed medical intensive care unit of a university hospital. 38 mechanically ventilated patients with sinus rhythm and without spontaneous breathing activity in whom volume expansion was planned. The aortic blood flow was measured using an esophageal Doppler monitoring device before and after fluid infusion (500 ml NaCl 0.9% over 10 min). The variation in aortic blood flow over a respiratory cycle between its minimal and maximal values was calculated. The flow time was also measured. Aortic blood flow increased by at least 15% after volume expansion in 20 patients (defined as responders). Before fluid infusion the respiratory variation in aortic flow was higher in responders than in nonresponders (28±12% vs. 12±5%). It significantly decreased after volume expansion (18±11%) in responders only. A respiratory variation in aortic flow before volume expansion of at least 18% predicted fluid responsiveness with a sensitivity of 90% and a specificity of 94%. Flow time increased with fluid infusion in responders and nonresponders. A flow time corrected for heart rate below 277 ms predicted fluid responsiveness with a sensitivity of 55% and a specificity of 94%. The area under the ROC curve generated for variation in aortic blood flow ABF was greater than that generated for flow time. The respiratory variation in aortic blood flow reliably predicts fluid responsiveness in patients with sinus rhythm and without breathing activity.

International audience; The influenza H1N1 epidemics in 2009 led a substantial number of people to develop severe acute respiratory distress syndrome and refractory hypoxemia. In these patients, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation was used as rescue oxygenation therapy. Several randomized clinical trials and observational studies suggested that extracorporeal membrane oxygenation associated with protective mechanical ventilation could improve outcome, but its efficacy remains uncertain. Organized by the Societe de Reanimation de Langue Francaise (SRLF) in conjunction with the Societe Francaise d'Anesthesie et de Reanimation (SFAR), the Societe de Pneumologie de Langue Francaise (SPLF), the Groupe Francophone de Reanimation et d'Urgences Pediatriques (GFRUP), the Societe Francaise de Perfusion (SOFRAPERF), the Societe Francaise de Chirurgie Thoracique et Cardiovasculaire (SFCTV) et the Sociedad Espanola de Medecina Intensiva Critica y Unidades Coronarias (SEMICYUC), a Consensus Conference was held in December 2013 and a jury of 13 members wrote 65 recommendations to answer the five following questions regarding the place of extracorporeal life support for patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome: 1) What are the available techniques?; 2) Which patients could benefit from extracorporeal life support?; 3) How to perform extracorporeal life support?; 4) How and when to stop extracorporeal life support?; 5) Which organization should be recommended? To write the recommendations, evidence-based medicine (GRADE method), expert panel opinions, and shared decisions taken by all the thirteen members of the jury of the Consensus Conference were taken into account.

To document the relationship between stroke volume (SV) and pulse pressure (PP) recorded at the femoral and aortic sites during volume expansion (VE) in patients in shock. We hypothesized that non-invasively estimated aortic PP would exhibit the same ability as PP recorded invasively at the femoral level to track SV changes.Included in this prospective study were 56 ICU patients needing VE. Femoral PP (indwelling catheter), aortic PP (tonometry) and cardiac output (thermodilution) were recorded before and after VE. Responders were defined as patients who showed an increase in SV of ≥15% after VE.Of the 56 included patients in shock, 39 (age 57 ± 14 years, SAPS II 46 ± 18) completed the study. At both sites, PP increased after VE in responders (n=17, mean SV increase 30 ± 15%) but not in non-responders. In the overall population, there was a positive relationship between VE-induced changes in SV and in PP at the femoral (r=0.60, p0.001) and aortic (r=0.52, p0.001) sites. Increases in femoral PP of ≥9% indicated SV increases of ≥15% with 82% sensitivity and 95% specificity. Increases in aortic PP of ≥4.5% indicated SV increases of ≥15% with 76% sensitivity and 82% specificity. Areas under the ROC curves indicated that aortic PP was not different from femoral PP for tracking changes in SV.The ability of non-invasively estimated aortic PP to track fluid response was the same as that of invasively recorded femoral PP. This may have implications for non-invasive haemodynamic monitoring.

Weaning-induced pulmonary edema is a cause of weaning failure in high-risk patients. The diagnosis may require pulmonary artery catheterization to demonstrate increased pulmonary artery occlusion pressure (PAOP) during weaning. Transthoracic echocardiography can estimate left ventricular filling pressures using early (E) and late (A) peak diastolic velocities measured with Doppler transmitral flow, and tissue Doppler imaging of mitral annulus velocities including early (Ea) peak diastolic velocity. We tested the hypothesis that E/A and E/Ea could be used to detect weaning-induced PAOP elevation defined by a PAOPor =18 mm Hg during a spontaneous breathing trial (SBT).We included 39 patients who previously failed two consecutive SBTs. A third SBT was performed over a maximum 1-hour period using a T-piece. The PAOP, E/A, and E/Ea were measured before and during this SBT. Receiver operating characteristic curves were constructed to determine the optimal sensitivity and specificity values of E/A and E/Ea obtained at the end of the SBT for predicting a weaning-induced PAOP elevation. Weaning-induced PAOP elevation occurred in 17 patients. A value of E/A0.95 at the end of the SBT predicted weaning-induced PAOP elevation with a sensitivity of 88% and a specificity of 68%. A value of E/Ea8.5 at the end of the SBT predicted weaning-induced PAOP elevation with a sensitivity of 94% and a specificity of 73%. The combination of E/A0.95 and E/Ea8.5 predicted a weaning-induced PAOP elevation with a sensitivity of 82% and a specificity of 91%.At the end of an SBT, the combination of E/A0.95 and E/Ea8.5 measured with transthoracic echocardiography allowed an accurate noninvasive detection of weaning-induced PAOP elevation.

During mechanical ventilation, inspiration cyclically decreases the left cardiac preload. Thus, an end-expiratory occlusion may prevent the cyclic impediment in left cardiac preload and may act like a fluid challenge. We tested whether this could serve as a functional test for fluid responsiveness in patients with circulatory failure.Prospective study.Medical intensive care unit.Thirty-four mechanically ventilated patients with shock in whom volume expansion was planned.A 15-second end-expiratory occlusion followed by a 500 mL saline infusion.Arterial pressure and pulse contour-derived cardiac index (PiCCOplus) at baseline, during passive leg raising (PLR), during the 5-last seconds of the end-expiratory occlusion, and after volume expansion.Volume expansion increased cardiac index by15% (2.4 +/- 1.0 to 3.3 +/- 1.2 L/min/m, p0.05) in 23 patients ("responders"). Before volume expansion, the end-expiratory occlusion significantly increased arterial pulse pressure by 15% +/- 15% and cardiac index by 12% +/- 11% in responders whereas arterial pulse pressure and cardiac index did not change significantly in nonresponders. Fluid responsiveness was predicted by an increase in pulse pressureor=5% during the end-expiratory occlusion with a sensitivity and a specificity of 87% and 100%, respectively, and by an increase in cardiac indexor=5% during the end-expiratory occlusion with a sensitivity and a specificity of 91% and 100%, respectively. The response of pulse pressure and cardiac index to the end-expiratory occlusion predicted fluid responsiveness with an accuracy that was similar to the response of cardiac index to PLR and that was significantly better than the response of pulse pressure to PLR (receiver operating characteristic curves area 0.957 [95% confidence interval [CI:] 0.825-0.994], 0.972 [95% CI: 0.849-0.995], 0.937 [95% CI: 0.797-0.990], and 0.675 [95% CI: 0.497-0.829], respectively).The hemodynamic response to an end-expiratory occlusion can predict volume responsiveness in mechanically ventilated patients.

International audience; ContextThe need for lung protection is universally accepted, but the optimal level of positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) in patients with acute lung injury (ALI) or acute respiratory distress syndrome remains debated.ObjectiveTo compare the effect on outcome of a strategy for setting PEEP aimed at increasing alveolar recruitment while limiting hyperinflation to one aimed at minimizing alveolar distension in patients with ALI.Design, Setting, and PatientsA multicenter randomized controlled trial of 767 adults (mean [SD] age, 59.9 [15.4] years) with ALI conducted in 37 intensive care units in France from September 2002 to December 2005.InterventionTidal volume was set at 6 mL/kg of predicted body weight in both strategies. Patients were randomly assigned to a moderate PEEP strategy (5-9 cm H2O) (minimal distension strategy; n=382)or to a level of PEEP set to reach a plateau pressure of 28 to 30 cm H2O (increased recruitment strategy; n=385).Main Outcome MeasuresThe primary end point was mortality at 28 days. Secondary end points were hospital mortality at 60 days, ventilator-free days, and organ failure–free days at 28 days.ResultsThe 28-day mortality rate in the minimal distension group was 31.2% (n=119) vs 27.8% (n=107) in the increased recruitment group (relative risk, 1.12 [95% confidence interval, 0.90-1.40]; P=.31). The hospital mortality rate in the minimal distension group was 39.0% (n=149) vs 35.4% (n=136) in the increased recruitment group (relative risk, 1.10 [95% confidence interval, 0.92-1.32]; P=.30). The increased recruitment group compared with the minimal distension group had a higher median number of ventilator-free days (7 [interquartile range {IQR}, 0-19] vs 3 [IQR, 0-17]; P=.04) and organ failure–free days (6 [IQR, 0-18] vs 2 [IQR, 0-16]; P=.04). This strategy also was associated with higher compliance values, better oxygenation, less use of adjunctive therapies, and larger fluid requirements.ConclusionsA strategy for setting PEEP aimed at increasing alveolar recruitment while limiting hyperinflation did not significantly reduce mortality. However, it did improve lung function and reduced the duration of mechanical ventilation and the duration of organ failure.

To examine whether the agreement between pulse contour and transpulmonary thermodilution cardiac index (CI) measurements is altered by changes in vascular tone within an up to 6-hr calibration-free period.Observational study.Medical intensive care unit of a university hospital.Fifty-nine critically ill patients.None.Data from 59 critically ill patients equipped with a PiCCO device were retrospectively analyzed. The database contained the transpulmonary thermodilution CI (CI(T)) value obtained at each time point the device was calibrated and the pulse contour CI (CI(PC)) value recorded immediately before this time point. Seven subsets of CI pairs were defined according to intervals of time elapsed from the previous calibration (within the first 30 mins, between 30 mins and 1 hr, and every hour up to 6 hrs). In the whole set of 400 CI pairs, CI(PC) correlated with CI(T) (r2 = .68, p.001). The bias +/- SD was 0.12 +/- 0.61 L/min/m2, and the percentage error was 35%. Among the seven time-interval subsets, the percentage error was30% only in the two first ones (27% and 26%, respectively). When changes in systemic vascular resistance by15% occurred (129 times), CI(PC) correlated with CI(T) (r2 = .64), the bias +/- SD was 0.12 +/- 0.62 L/min/m2, and the percentage error was 36%. In the subset of CI pairs recorded within the 1-hr calibration-free period while vascular resistance changed by15% (n = 32), the bias +/- SD was 0.04 +/- 0.47 L/min/m and the percentage error was 29%.Our study in critically ill patients suggests that the agreement between pulse contour cardiac output and transpulmonary thermodilution cardiac output was not significantly influenced by changes in vascular tone. However, after a 1-hr calibration-free period, recalibration may be encouraged. Such a procedure provides helpful information drawn from other thermodilution-derived variables.

Peripheral arterial pulse pressure is increasingly used to assess hemodynamic status. Our aim was to test the respective influence of arterial stiffness, stroke volume, peripheral resistance, and various hemodynamic and demographic variables on peripheral pulse pressure in critically ill patients. Prospective study. Medical intensive care unit of a university hospital. None. 67 sinus rhythm patients (mean age 57 ± 17 years) of whom 17 received vasoactive agents. The stroke volume was calculated by Doppler echocardiography. Radial pressures were calibrated from systolic and diastolic brachial cuff pressures. Central aortic pressure was estimated by radial applanation tonometry. The arterial compliance was estimated from the aortic pressure curve using the area method and the arterial stiffness was calculated as 1/compliance. The influences of age, body surface area, arterial stiffness, stroke volume, peripheral resistance, and time intervals on peripheral pulse pressure were tested using univariate and multivariate analyses. The mean arterial pressure ranged from 42 to 113 mmHg. Peripheral pulse pressure (59 ± 17 mmHg) was higher than aortic pulse pressure (40 ± 14 mmHg, p

Several studies have reported a close relationship between an increased dose of dialysis and survival in patients treated for acute renal failure. Unfortunately, the quantification of dialysis in critically ill patients based on the urea nitrogen formula Kt/V is not applicable. Ionic dialysance is a new parameter calculated in real time from the dialysate conductivity and correlated with the effective urea clearance in chronic hemodialysis patients. The aim of our study was to evaluate ionic dialysance in the quantification of dialysis in critically ill patients with acute renal failure.Prospective open-label study.An 18-bed medical intensive care unit.Thirty-one patients with multiple organ dysfunction syndrome and acute renal failure requiring intermittent hemodialysis were included.Using the first dialysis session of each patient, we compared the delivered dose of dialysis based on ionic dialysance measurement (Kt(ID)) with the well-accepted gold standard method based on fractional dialysate sampling (Kt(dialysate)). The data were analyzed using linear regression and Bland-Altman analysis.Thirty-one intermittent hemodialysis sessions were performed in 31 critically ill patients (mean age 58+/-12 years, SAPS II score 56+/-10). We found a close correlation between Kt(dialysate) and Kt(ID) (Kt(dialysate) = 36.3+/-11.4 l; Kt(ID)=38.4+/-11.8; r=0.96) with excellent limits of agreement (-2.2 l; 6.4 l).The feasibility of dialysis quantification based on ionic dialysance in the critically ill patient is good. This method is a simple and accurate tool for the determination of dialysis dose in critically ill patients.

Intensivists are regularly confronted with the question of gastrointestinal bleeding. To date, the latest international recommendations regarding prevention and treatment for gastrointestinal bleeding lack a specific approach to the critically ill patients. We present recommendations for management by the intensivist of gastrointestinal bleeding in adults and children, developed with the GRADE system by an experts group of the French-Language Society of Intensive Care (Société de Réanimation de Langue Française (SRLF), with the participation of the French Language Group of Paediatric Intensive Care and Emergencies (GFRUP), the French Society of Emergency Medicine (SFMU), the French Society of Gastroenterology (SNFGE), and the French Society of Digestive Endoscopy (SFED). The recommendations cover five fields of application: management of gastrointestinal bleeding before endoscopic diagnosis, treatment of upper gastrointestinal bleeding unrelated to portal hypertension, treatment of upper gastrointestinal bleeding related to portal hypertension, management of presumed lower gastrointestinal bleeding, and prevention of upper gastrointestinal bleeding in intensive care.

Background Little is known about the most severe forms of Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia (PCP) in HIV-negative as compared with HIV-positive patients. Improved knowledge about the differential characteristics and management modalities could guide treatment based on HIV status. Methods We retrospectively compared 72 patients (73 cases, 46 HIV-positive) admitted for PCP from 1993 to 2006 in the intensive care unit (ICU) of a university hospital. Results The yearly incidence of ICU admissions for PCP in HIV-negative patients increased from 1993 (0%) to 2006 (6.5%). At admission, all but one non-HIV patient were receiving corticosteroids. Twenty-three (85%) HIV-negative patients were receiving an additional immunosuppressive treatment. At admission, HIV-negative patients were significantly older than HIV-positive patients (64 [18 to 82] versus 37 [28 to 56] years old) and had a significantly higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score (SAPS) II (38 [13 to 90] versus 27 [11 to 112]) but had a similar PaO2/FiO2 (arterial partial pressure of oxygen/fraction of inspired oxygen) ratio (160 [61 to 322] versus 183 [38 to 380] mm Hg). Ventilatory support was required in a similar proportion of HIV-negative and HIV-positive cases (78% versus 61%), with a similar proportion of first-line non-invasive ventilation (NIV) (67% versus 54%). NIV failed in 71% of HIV-negative and in 13% of HIV-positive patients (p < 0.01). Mortality was significantly higher in HIV-negative than HIV-positive cases (48% versus 17%). The HIV-negative status (odds ratio 3.73, 95% confidence interval 1.10 to 12.60) and SAPS II (odds ratio 1.07, 95% confidence interval 1.02 to 1.12) were independently associated with mortality at multivariate analysis. Conclusion The yearly incidence of ICU admissions for PCP in HIV-negative patients in our unit increased from 1993 to 2006. The course of the disease and the outcome were worse in HIV-negative patients. NIV often failed in HIV-negative cases, suggesting that NIV must be watched closely in this population.

International audience; INTRODUCTION: Data on pulmonary complications in renal transplant recipients are scarce. The aim of this study was to evaluate acute respiratory failure (ARF) in renal transplant recipients. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective observational study in nine transplant centers of consecutive kidney transplant recipients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) for ARF from 2000 to 2008. RESULTS: Of 6,819 kidney transplant recipients, 452 (6.6%) required ICU admission, including 200 admitted for ARF. Fifteen (7.5%) of these patients had combined kidney-pancreas transplantations. The most common causes of ARF were bacterial pneumonia (35.5%), cardiogenic pulmonary edema (24.5%) and extrapulmonary acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) (15.5%). Pneumocystis pneumonia occurred in 11.5% of patients. Mechanical ventilation was used in 93 patients (46.5%), vasopressors were used in 82 patients (41%) and dialysis was administered in 104 patients (52%). Both the in-hospital and 90-day mortality rates were 22.5%. Among the 155 day 90 survivors, 115 patients (74.2%) were dialysis-free, including 75 patients (65.2%) who recovered prior renal function. Factors independently associated with in-hospital mortality were shock at admission (odds ratio (OR) 8.70, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 3.25 to 23.29), opportunistic fungal infection (OR 7.08, 95% CI 2.32 to 21.60) and bacterial infection (OR 2.53, 95% CI 1.07 to 5.96). Five factors were independently associated with day 90 dialysis-free survival: renal Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score on day 1 (OR 0.68/SOFA point, 95% CI 0.52 to 0.88), bacterial infection (OR 0.43, 95% CI 0.21 to 0.90), three or four quadrants involved on chest X-ray (OR 0.44, 95% CI 0.21 to 0.91), time from hospital to ICU admission (OR 0.98/day, 95% CI 0.95 to 0.99) and oxygen flow at admission (OR 0.93/liter, 95% CI 0.86 to 0.99). CONCLUSIONS: In kidney transplant recipients, ARF is associated with high mortality and graft loss rates. Increased Pneumocystis and bacterial prophylaxis might improve these outcomes. Early ICU admission might prevent graft loss.