[Risk and control of nosocomial infection during resuscitation: statement of the Sfar/SRLF].
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to P Loirat.
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The aim of this study was to assess the influence of preservation solution type and extra- or intracellular composition on the occurrence of early graft dysfunction after clinical lung transplantation. For 170 patients who underwent a single (n = 124) or bilateral (n = 46) lung transplantation in two centers in Paris between 1988 and 1999, the preservation technique applied to the donor lung was single-flush perfusion of the pulmonary artery with one of several solutions of intracellular (Euro-Collins, n = 61; University of Wisconsin, n = 24) or extracellular composition (Cambridge, n = 64; Celsior, n = 21). The early postoperative outcome of these patients was reviewed. Reimplantation edema occurred in 48% of all patients, and the overall 1-mo survival rate was 84%. No significant difference in the incidence of edema, duration of mechanical ventilation, and 1-mo survival rate was observed between the four groups or between intra- and extracellular groups. After adjustment for graft ischemic time by means of multivariate analysis, the use of extracellular preservation fluid was associated with a lower incidence of reimplantation edema without effect on 1-mo mortality. Graft ischemic time was associated with both edema occurrence and 1-mo survival rate (p = 0.02 and p = 0.01, respectively). We conclude that extracellular-type solutions are associated with better lung preservation than intracellular-type solutions in clinical transplantation.
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OBJECTIVES: To assess the efficacy of the Simplified Acute Physiology Score (SAPS II) in intermediate care units. A number of patients hospitalized in the intensive care unit (ICU) could be hospitalized in alternative structures, intermediate care units, which are equipped to handle their monitoring needs and able to provide adequate treatment at a lower cost. Characterization of the patients relies on the assessment of their severity of illness by severity scores. The efficiency of severity scores has been established in ICU patients, but not in the setting of intermediate care units. DESIGN: Prospective study. SETTING: Intermediate care unit of a multidisciplinary hospital. PATIENTS: Four hundred thirty-three patients admitted to the intermediate care unit. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Of 561 consecutive patients admitted to the intermediate care unit during a 12-mo period, 433 patients could be included in the analysis. Patients were admitted from the emergency ward (60.9%). Of the study patients, 60.9% were admitted from the emergency ward for mostly (96%) medical reasons. Average length of stay was 3.1 +/- 2.3 (SD) days. Death rate in the intermediate care unit was 2.7% (n = 11). Average SAPS II was 22.3 +/- 12.0 (range 6 to 73). Hospital death rate was 8.1%, whereas the expected mortality rate derived from SAPS II was 8.7%. To assess the performance of the system, a formal goodness-of-fit test was performed to evaluate calibration. Calibration was accurate using the C coefficient of Hosmer-Lemeshow statistics (C = 2.4; p> 0.5). The discriminant power of SAPS II, measured by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was excellent (0.85 +/- 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: The SAPS II assessment of severity of illness in patients admitted to an intermediate care unit is reliable. These results will need to be confirmed, using different patient samplings from intermediate care units.
UNLABELLED: Decreased susceptibility to penicillin G of pneumococcal strains is continuously increasing in France. OBJECTIVE: We assessed effect of resistance to penicillin on therapeutic management and mortality in adults with pneumococcal pneumonia in our hospital. METHODS: This one-year retrospective study (1995) included patients with proven pneumococcal infection (positive blood culture, pleural fluid, or specimens from the lower respiratory tract). Strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae were screened for susceptibility to antimicrobial agents. Resistance to penicillin G was defined as a minimal inhibitory concentration > or = 0.12 microgram/ml. Age immune and nosocomial status, first and second line antibiotherapy and death were compared according to the strains susceptibility to penicillin G. A p value below 0.05 was statistically significant. RESULTS: In 15 cases a pneumococcal strain susceptible to penicillin G was isolated while 23 patients were infected with a strain with a decreased susceptibility to penicillin G. Age was significantly higher in the latest group (61.6 versus 54.7 years) while no difference was noted between the 2 groups according to immune and nosocomial status, therapeutic management and death. DISCUSSION: Resistance to penicillin did neither appear to increase mortality nor to influence therapeutic management in patients with pneumococcal infection.
OBJECTIVE: To assess the quality of life of intensive care survivors 6 months after discharge. DESIGN: Multicenter prospective study. SETTING: Medical-surgical intensive care units (ICUs) of four French university hospitals. PATIENTS: Among the 589 patients admitted to the four ICUs between 1 January and 31 March 1989, 329 were investigated. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: A generic scale assessing health-related quality of life, the Nottingham Health Profile (NHP), a satisfaction scale, the Perceived Quality of Life scale (PQOL) and a questionnaire on professional status were sent by mail 6 months after discharge. Data concerning age, severity of acute illness (assessed by the Simplified Acute Physiology Score) and main diagnosis were recorded. A total of 223 questionnaires (67.8 %) were analysable. The professional status remained unchanged in 79.7% of the patients, despite a significant (p < 0.01) increase (15.3 vs 22.1%) in sick leave. Quality of life, assessed with NHP, was fair (50th percentile = 0.73 on a 0 to 1 scale), whereas satisfaction measured by PQOL was lower (50th percentile = 0.61). Both scales correlated well (z = 9.853; p = 0.0001) but with a large dispersion. The NHP scale showed a severe reduction in energy, sleep and emotional reactions, whereas social isolation, pain and physical handicap were infrequent. Family support was rated with the PQOL score as very good, whereas dissatisfaction concerning recreational and professional activities was expressed. Subsequent sick leave was associated with a poor quality of life (p < 0.05). Quality of life was mainly a function of the diagnosis, not of age and severity of illness: patients admitted for suicide attempt or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease fared poorly. CONCLUSIONS: Quality of life measured with a health-related quality of life scale and a satisfaction scale 6 months after an ICU stay depended on the admission diagnosis. Different dimensions of quality of life were variably affected.
Mortality due to acute renal failure has remained high over the last three decades despite a better understanding of the pathophysiologic mechanics involved and advances in the management of critically ill patients. This paradoxical situation raises many questions concerning the criteria used to assess treatment and disease severity as well as the effectiveness of certain recently proned "advances". In the 1980s, much progress was made in preventing and/or limiting the extent of acute renal failure. The use of very early and vigorous fluid administration associated with alkaline diuresis prevents traumatic rhabdomyolysis; saline hydration before and after radiocontrast administration protects against the acute decrease in renal function in high-risk patients; maintenance of an adequate intravascular volume and of blood pressure helps prevent acute renal failure. After the onset of acute failure, low-dose dopamine can increase urine output, whereas dobutamine improves creatinine clearance but there is no evidence that increasing urine output lowers morbidity or mortality. New techniques have been proposed for acute renal replacement therapy, but except for use of bicarbonate dialysis and biocompatible membranes, none have been shown to be superior. It has been claimed, on the basis of uncontrolled or retrospective studies, that continuous hemofiltration or hemodiafiltration could have a beneficial effect on survival and/or the course of infectious complications. However, convincing evidence of this beneficial effect is lacking since these techniques are incompatible with clinically pertinent removal of proinflammatory cytokines. The type of renal support may have no effect on outcome. Can further progress be expected in the future? Antagonists of NO receptors and growth factors have a protective effect on renal function in animal models, results which may be of clinical relevance. Their clinical potential should be evaluated in prospective randomized trials involving patients where severity of illness is assessed at inclusion using a multiparametric model combining a severity score and relevant prognostic factors.
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BACKGROUND: Sepsis is a major cause of acute renal failure in hospital patients, but its incidence and the associated prognostic factors have rarely been assessed prospectively by multivariate analysis. METHODS: We conducted a prospective 6-month study in 20 multidisciplinary intensive care units to assess the prognosis of patients hospitalized with acute renal failure due to sepsis. Sepsis syndrome and septic shock were defined according to the criteria of the Society of Critical Care Medicine Consensus Conference. Severity scoring indexes (SAPS, APACHE II, and organ system failure (OSF)) were measured on ICU admission and on inclusion. The end-point was hospital mortality. RESULTS: Acute renal failure had a septic origin in 157 patients (Group 1), comprising 68 with septic shock and 89 with sepsis syndrome, and did not result from infection in 188 patients (Group 2). Patients with septic acute renal failure were older (mean age: 62.2 versus 57.9 years, P<0.02) and had on inclusion a higher SAPS (19.3 versus 16.1, P<0.001), APACHE II (29.6 versus 24.3, P<0.001), and OSF (2.07 versus 1.52, P<0.001) than patients with non-septic acute renal failure. They had a higher need for mechanical ventilation (69.1% versus 47.3%, P<0.001), and acute renal failure was more often delayed during the ICU stay than was present on admission (47.7% versus 32.4% respectively, P<0.005). Hospital mortality was higher in patients with septic acute renal failure (74.5%) than in those whose renal failure did not result from sepsis (45.2%, P<0.001). Mortality was influenced by the presence of a septic shock (79.4%) or of a sepsis syndrome on inclusion (70.8%). Using a stepwise logistic regression model, sepsis was an independent predictor of hospital mortality (OR, 2.51; 95% CI, 1.44-4.39) as well as a delayed occurrence of acute renal failure, oliguria, an altered previous health status hospitalization prior to ICU, need for mechanical ventilation, age and severity scoring indexes on inclusion. In total patients, mortality was higher in dialyzed than in non-dialyzed patients (P<0.001), and in those treated by continuous compared to intermittent techniques (P<0.01). Patients dialyzed with biocompatible membranes had a lower mortality than those treated with cellulose membranes (P<0.005). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with acute renal failure due to sepsis have a worse prognosis than those with non-septic acute renal failure. Sepsis and the above-defined predictive factors are to be considered in studies on prognosis of ARF patients. Our results suggest that the use of biocompatible membranes may reduce significantly mortality in these patients.
OBJECTIVE: To assess the causes, the prognostic factors, and the outcome of patients with severe acute renal failure. DESIGN: Prospective, multicenter study. SETTING: Twenty French multidisciplinary intensive care units (ICUs). PATIENTS: All patients with severe acute renal failure were prospectively enrolled in the study for a 6-month period. Severe acute renal failure was defined by the following criteria: a) a serum creatinine concentration of > or = 3.5 mg/dL ( > or = 310 mumol/L) and/or a blood urea nitrogen concentration of > or = 100 mg/dL ( > or = 36 mmol/L); or b) an increase in blood urea nitrogen or serum creatinine concentration, such that the concentration is 100% above the baseline value in patients with previous chronic renal insufficiency (serum creatinine concentration of > 1.8 mg/dL [ > 150 mumol/L]), excluding those patients with a basal serum creatinine concentration of > 3.4 mg/dL ( > 300 mumol/L). INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Age, sex, previous health status and preexisting organ dysfunction, and type and origin of acute renal failure were recorded. The Simplified Acute Physiology Score, the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE II) score, and the number of Organ System Failures were calculated on ICU day 1 and at the time of inclusion in the study. Prognostic factors were determined by univariate methods and stepwise logistic regression analysis. There were 360 patients in the study; 217 patients were admitted to the study at the time of ICU admission and 143 patients were admitted to the study after ICU admission. Only 41% of these patients were in good health 3 months before ICU entry. The reason for admission was medical in 78% of cases. The type of acute renal failure was prerenal (n = 16), renal (n = 282), or postrenal (n = 17). Renal replacement therapy was used in 174 patients. Two hundred ten (58%) patients died during the hospital stay. Using stepwide logistic regression, seven variables were predictive of death. These variables were advanced age, altered previous health status, hospitalization before ICU admission, delayed occurrence of acute renal failure, sepsis, oliguria, and severity of illness as assessed at the time of study inclusion by Simplified Acute Physiology Score, APACHE II, or Organ System Failure. CONCLUSIONS: The hospital mortality rate of patients with severe acute renal failure in patients requiring intensive care remains high. In order to compare patient groups in further trials concerning acute renal failure, recorded characteristics of the population should include age, previous health status, disease characteristics (initial or delayed acute renal failure, oliguria, sepsis), and the severity of the illness as assessed by physiologic scoring systems recorded at the time of study inclusion.
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OBJECTIVE: To explore translation, conversion and definition ambiguities, when using severity scoring systems in patients admitted to intensive care units (ICUs). DESIGN: A prospective study of the prognosis of acute renal failure in ICUs. SETTING: The study was conducted in 20 French ICUs. PATIENTS: 360 patients presenting with severe acute renal failure were studied during their ICU stay. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: The inter-observer variability of Apache II (acute physiology and chronic health evaluation), SAPS (simplified acute physiology score), and OSF (organ-system failure) was considered. For Apache II, we explored the uncertainty of measurements arising from conversion into SI units, the rounding procedures used for the non-inclusive intervals defined for quantitative parameters such as age, mean arterial pressure (MAP) or serum creatinine, the absence of definition of acute renal failure (ARF) and its consequence on doubling serum creatinine values, and the absence of guidelines in the case of spontaneous ventilation when arterial blood gases (ABG) and forced inspiratory oxygen (FIO2) were not measured. The resulting variability was evaluated, calculating the lowest and the highest value of the scoring system for each patient. The mean difference by patient was greater than 1.5 (p < 0.0001). Other examples were presented and discussed for SAPS and OSF. CONCLUSIONS: Translation, conversion and definition ambiguities are a source of inter-observer variability and increase the risk of classification and/or selection biases. This gives rise to particular concern in the design and analysis of multicenter trials of meta-analysis, and improvement of these scoring systems should be envisaged in the future.
We studied fluconazole penetration in the brain in five patients who had a deep cerebral tumor whose removal required the excision of healthy brain tissue. Plasma and brain samples were simultaneously obtained after oral ingestion of 400 mg of fluconazole daily for 4 days (90% of steady state). Fluconazole penetration in healthy cerebral parenchyma was determined. Plasma and brain samples were assayed by high-pressure liquid chromatography. Concentrations in plasma and brain tissue were 13.5 +/- 5.5 micrograms/ml and 17.6 +/- 6.6 micrograms/g, respectively. The average ratio of concentrations in the brain and plasma (four patients) was 1.33 (range, 0.70 to 2.39). Despite the lack of data concerning the penetration of fluconazole in brain abscesses, these results should permit the use of a daily dose of 400 mg of fluconazole in prospective clinical studies that evaluate the effectiveness of this drug in the treatment of brain abscesses due to susceptible species of fungi.
The present case describes an acute respiratory-related hemodynamic failure during a single left lung transplantation in a 32-year-old woman suffering from end-stage pulmonary lymphangiomyomatosis. During the first 5 min of single right lung ventilation, a progressive increase in airway pressure and decrease in tidal volume associated with a decrease in arterial pressure and Spo2 occurred that were successfully countered by reventilation of the left lung. Proper positioning of the double-lumen tube was confirmed with a fiberoptic bronchoscope. Despite deliberate hypoventilation, within a few respiratory cycles, each further attempt at single lung ventilation was followed by abrupt hypotension, increase in pulmonary artery pressure, while airway pressure rose and tidal volume collapsed. The surgical team saw no signs of right pneumothorax. In these circumstances, cardiopulmonary bypass was required to perform pneumonectomy and grafting. Postoperatively a right anterior pneumothorax remained undiscovered on standard radiograph but was later revealed on soft radiograph. This acute intraoperative respiratory failure could equally well have been related to air trapping, in which case, however, deliberate hypoventilation would have been effective. In addition, the striking difference between the progressive onset of the first episode of hemodynamic failure and the immediate onset of the others argues in favor of a pneumothorax being at cause. Patients with pulmonary lymphangiomyomatosis are at high risk for intraoperative pneumothorax, but in our case, it could not be confirmed and treated during the surgical procedure without putting the patient at high risk for lung injury because of pleurodesis due to earlier pleural abrasion. This case again clearly shows the need to have cardiopulmonary bypass whenever single lung transplantation is performed.
Nephrogenic diabetes insipidus is an exceptional complication of incomplete ureteric obstruction with hydronephrosis. We report one case of this condition revealing idiopathic retroperitoneal fibrosis. Pathogenic mechanisms are discussed.
Bilateral single lung transplantation (BSLT) (the procedure of choice for double lung replacement) and single lung transplantation (SLT) have at present a low incidence of anastomotic problems. In our experience, we have recorded no death related to anastomotic problems and 4 complications occurred for 33 anastomoses with a follow up of at least 2 months. A stent was temporarily inserted for two patients. The decrease of anastomotic complications is confirmed in the literature. It is one of the reasons why the number of SLT and BSLT performed all over the world increases rapidily to the detriment of heart lung transplantation.
Nocardia infection classically occurs in immuno-compromized patients. Only a few cases of mediastinal infection due to this pathogen have been described in the literature. We report a patient who developed mediastinitis due to Nocardia asteroides after cardiac transplantation. The treatment was surgical debridement, dressing, sugaring and antibiotic therapy. The emergence of a severe acute renal failure possibly induced by drug interaction between Cyclosporin, cyclines and aminoglycosides, led us to modify the antimicrobial treatment. The intravenous use of Imipenem 2 g per day and Ciprofloxacin 400 mg per day for four weeks and then oral Ciprofloxacin 1.5 g per day for 1 year, was effective and allowed a good outcome, without any drug interaction with Cyclosporin, adverse effect, graft rejection episode or infection relapse.