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Background The Seraph® 100 Microbind® Affinity Blood Filter is a haemoperfusion device that is licensed for the reduction of pathogens, including several viruses, in the blood. It received Emergency Use Authorization for the treatment of severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Several studies have shown that the blood viral load of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) correlates with adverse outcomes and removal of the nucleocapsid of the SARS-CoV-2 virus by the Seraph® 100 has been recently demonstrated. The aim of this registry was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of Seraph® 100 treatment for COVID-19 patients. Methods Twelve hospitals from six countries representing two continents documented patient and treatment characteristics as well as outcome parameters without reimbursement. Additionally, mortality and safety results of the device were reported. A total of 102 treatment sessions in 82 patients were documented in the registry. Four patients were excluded from mortality analysis due to incomplete outcome data, which were available in the other 78 patients. Results Overall, a 30-day mortality rate of 46.2% in the 78 patients with complete follow-up was reported. The median treatment time was 5.00 h (4.00–13.42) and 43.1% of the treatments were performed as haemoperfusion only. Adverse events of the Seraph® 100 treatment were reported in 8.8% of the 102 treatments and represented the premature end of treatment due to circuit failure. Patients who died were treated later in their intensive care unit (ICU) stay and onset of COVID symptoms. They also had higher ferritin levels. Multivariate Cox regression revealed that delayed Seraph® 100 treatment after ICU admission (>60 h), as well as bacterial superinfection, were associated with mortality. While average predicted mortality rate according to Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score in ICU patients was 56.7%, the observed mortality was 50.7%. In non-ICU patients, Coronavirus Clinical Characterisation Consortium (4C) score average predicted a mortality rate of 38.0%, while the observed mortality rate was 11.1%. Conclusions The treatment of COVID-19 patients with Seraph® 100 is well tolerated and the circuit failure rate was lower than previously reported for kidney replacement therapy (KRT) in COVID-19 patients. Mortality correlated with late initiation of Seraph treatment after ICU admission and bacterial superinfection. Compared with predicted mortality according to 4C and SOFA scores, mortality of Seraph® 100-treated patients reported in the registry was lower. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Oxygen (O2) is a drug with specific biochemical and physiological properties, a range of effective doses and may have side effects. In 2015, 14% of over 55,000 hospital patients in the UK were using oxygen. 42% of patients received this supplemental oxygen without a valid prescription. Health care professionals are frequently uncertain about the relevance of hypoxemia and have low awareness about the risks of hyperoxemia. Numerous randomized controlled trials about targets of oxygen therapy have been published in recent years. A national guideline is urgently needed. Methods: A national S3 guideline was developed and published within the Program for National Disease Management Guidelines (AWMF) with participation of 10 medical associations. A literature search was performed until February 1, 2021, to answer 10 key questions. The Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine (CEBM) System ("The Oxford 2011 Levels of Evidence") was used to classify types of studies in terms of validity. Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) was used for assessing the quality of evidence and for grading guideline recommendation, and a formal consensus-building process was performed. Results: The guideline includes 34 evidence-based recommendations about indications, prescription, monitoring and discontinuation of oxygen therapy in acute care. The main indication for O2 therapy is hypoxemia. In acute care both hypoxemia and hyperoxemia should be avoided. Hyperoxemia also seems to be associated with increased mortality, especially in patients with hypercapnia. The guideline provides recommended target oxygen saturation for acute medicine without differentiating between diagnoses. Target ranges for oxygen saturation are based depending on ventilation status risk for hypercapnia. The guideline provides an overview of available oxygen delivery systems and includes recommendations for their selection based on patient safety and comfort. Conclusion: This is the first national guideline on the use of oxygen in acute care. It addresses health care professionals using oxygen in acute out-of-hospital and in-hospital settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study on prescribing oxygen therapy for isolated exercise-induced hypoxemia. Topics include the effects of oxygen administration in patients with isolated exercise-induced hypoxemia, cost and side effects of oxygen therapy, and information on the British and the Germany oxygen therapy guidelines.

Background:  Oxygen (O2) therapy is one of the most commonly applied medications in German hospitals and rescue services. Both hypoxemia and hyperoxemia can be associated with complications. There is currently a lack of reliable data on the use, documentation and surveillance of O2-therapy in German hospitals., Methods:  We conducted a cross-sectional study on the use of O2 in three hospitals in Hannover, Germany., Results:  Of 343 patients included in this study, 20 % received O2 therapy. Twenty-nine percent of patients receiving O2 were at increased risk for hypercapnia. A standard operating procedure (SOP) for O2 therapy was available in only 68 % of patients. In 22 % patients the applied O2-therapy was appropriate in the context of the documented vital parameters. A complete documentation of vital parameters was conducted in only 30 % of all patients and 41 % of patients receiving O2-therapy. A surveillance of O2-therapy using capillary or arterial blood gas analysis was performed in 76 % of patients. Here, 64 % of patients showed normoxemia, 17 % showed hyperoxemia and 19 % of patients showed hypoxemia. The only identifiable predictor for an adequate O2-therapy was a previous invasive ventilation., Discussion:  Our data point towards and inadequate prescription, application and documentation of O2 therapy. The recently released German S3-guideline should be used to increase awareness among physicians and nursing staff regarding the use of O2-therapy to improve O2 therapy and consequently patient safety., Competing Interests: Jens Gottlieb und Thomas Fühner sind Autoren der S3-Leitlinie ,Sauerstoff in der Akuttherapie beim Erwachsenen‘; die anderen Autoren geben an, keinen Interessenkonflikt zu haben., (Thieme. All rights reserved.)

Background:  Oxygen (O 2 ) is a drug with specific biochemical and physiologic properties, a range of effective doses and may have side effects. In 2015, 14 % of over 55 000 hospital patients in the UK were using oxygen. 42 % of patients received this supplemental oxygen without a valid prescription. Healthcare professionals are frequently uncertain about the relevance of hypoxemia and have low awareness about the risks of hyperoxemia. Numerous randomized controlled trials about targets of oxygen therapy have been published in recent years. A national guideline is urgently needed., Methods:  A S3-guideline was developed and published within the Program for National Disease Management Guidelines (AWMF) with participation of 10 medical associations. Literature search was performed until Feb 1st 2021 to answer 10 key questions. The Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine (CEBM) System ("The Oxford 2011 Levels of Evidence") was used to classify types of studies in terms of validity. Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) was used and for assessing the quality of evidence and for grading guideline recommendation and a formal consensus-building process was performed., Results:  The guideline includes 34 evidence-based recommendations about indications, prescription, monitoring and discontinuation of oxygen therapy in acute care. The main indication for O 2 therapy is hypoxemia. In acute care both hypoxemia and hyperoxemia should be avoided. Hyperoxemia also seems to be associated with increased mortality, especially in patients with hypercapnia. The guideline provides recommended target oxygen saturation for acute medicine without differentiating between diagnoses. Target ranges for oxygen saturation are depending on ventilation status risk for hypercapnia. The guideline provides an overview of available oxygen delivery systems and includes recommendations for their selection based on patient safety and comfort., Conclusion:  This is the first national guideline on the use of oxygen in acute care. It addresses healthcare professionals using oxygen in acute out-of-hospital and in-hospital settings. The guideline will be valid for 3 years until June 30, 2024., Competing Interests: Eine Übersicht der Interessenkonflikte findet sich im Internet unter http://awmf.org; AWMF-Registriernummer 020-021., (Thieme. All rights reserved.)

Background: Oxygen is a drug with specific properties, a defined dose-effect range and side effects. In 2015, in a sample of UK hospital patients, 14% were treated with oxygen, of which only 42% had a prescription. Health care workers are often uncertain about the relevance of hypoxemia, and there is limited awareness of the risks of hyperoxemia. Numerous randomized controlled trials on oxygen therapy have recently been published., Methods: As part of the guideline program of the Working Group of Scientific Medical Societies e. V. (AWMF), this S3 guideline was developed with the participation of 10 medical societies on the basis of a literature search up to 02/01/2021. The system of the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine (CEBM) (The Oxford 2011 Levels of Evidence) was used to evaluate the literature. The quality of evidence was assessed using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE), and a formal consensus process of recommendations was performed., Results: The guideline contains 34 evidence-based recommendations on the indication, prescription, monitoring, and discontinuation of oxygen therapy in acute care. The indication for oxygen is mainly hypoxemia. Hypoxemia and hyperoxemia should be avoided, since both increase mortality. The guideline recommends target ranges of oxygen saturation for acute oxygen therapy without differentiating between different diagnoses. Target areas depend on the risk for hypercapnia and ventilation status. The guideline provides an overview of available oxygen delivery systems and contains recommendations for their selection based on patient safety and comfort., Conclusion: This is the first German guideline on the use of oxygen in acute care. It is aimed at medical professionals who use oxygen in and outside hospitals and is valid until June 30th, 2024., (© 2021. Springer Medizin Verlag GmbH, ein Teil von Springer Nature.)