Citations

COVID-19 highlighted the need for use of real-world data (RWD) in critical care as a near real-time resource for clinical, research, and policy efforts. Analysis of RWD is gaining momentum and can generate important evidence for policy makers and regulators. Extracting high quality RWD from electronic health records (EHRs) requires sophisticated infrastructure and dedicated resources. We sought to customize freely available public tools, supporting all phases of data harmonization, from data quality assessments to de-identification procedures, and generation of robust, data science ready RWD from EHRs. These data are made available to clinicians and researchers through CURE ID, a free platform which facilitates access to case reports of challenging clinical cases and repurposed treatments hosted by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences/National Institutes of Health in partnership with the Food and Drug Administration. This commentary describes the partnership, rationale, process, use case, impact in critical care, and future directions for this collaborative effort.

Introduction: Acinetobacter baumannii (AB) is a multidrug-resistant pathogen commonly associated with nosocomial infections. The resistance profile and ability to produce biofilm make it a complicated organism to treat effectively. Cefoperazone sulbactam (CS) is commonly used to treat AB, but the associated data are scarce. Methods: We conducted a systematic review of articles downloaded from Cochrane, Embase, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science (through June 2022) to study the efficacy of CS in treating AB infections. Our review evaluated patients treated with CS alone and CS in combination with other antibiotics separately. The following outcomes were studied: clinical cure, microbiological cure, and mortality from any cause. Results: We included 16 studies where CS was used for the treatment of AB infections. This included 11 studies where CS was used alone and 10 studies where CS was used in combination. The outcomes were similar in both groups. We found that the pooled clinical cure, microbiological cure, and mortality with CS alone for AB were 70%, 44%, and 20%, respectively. The pooled clinical cure, microbiological cure, and mortality when CS was used in combination with other antibiotics were 72%, 43%, and 21%, respectively. Conclusions: CS alone or in combination needs to be further explored for the treatment of AB infections. There is a need for randomized controlled trials with comparator drugs to evaluate the drug’s effectiveness.

Abstract Background CERTAIN (Checklist for Early Recognition and Treatment of Acute Illness and iNjury) education program was developed to accelerate the global dissemination of a standardized, systemic, structured approach to critical care delivery. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic prompted the evolution of this program from a live in-person course to a blended synchronous and asynchronous learning experience, including virtual simulation. Objectives We describe our experience and insights gained through this digital program transformation and highlight areas in need of further research to advance the delivery of high-quality online education offerings to global interprofessional audiences. Methods The CERTAIN education program was delivered to a broad international audience first in person (2016–2019) and then virtually during the COVID-19 global pandemic (2020–present). During this transition, we adopted a flipped classroom model to deliver the core content asynchronously using an online learning management system, supplemented by a novel synchronous online experience to provide learners with the opportunity to apply these concepts using a series of simulated clinical cases. Results A total of 400 participants attended 11 CERTAIN courses. We transitioned our 10-hour live course to a 3-hour virtual workshop. The duration of simulation activities (admission, rounding, and shared decision-making) remained constant. Didactic lectures were eliminated from the synchronous online course and presented as recorded videos in precourse materials. We collected 306 postcourse surveys (response rate, 76.5%). The majority of the overall course ratings were excellent (147 [49.5%]) and very good (97 [32.7%]), and learner responses were similar to live and online courses. Simulation activities were consistently the most popular elements of our program. Access to digital learning platforms and language barriers during simulation activities proved to be the greatest challenges during our transition. Delivering mobile-friendly online content and close coordination between dedicated bilingual faculty and local champions helped overcome these challenges. Conclusion Critical care education and case-based simulation workshops can be delivered to international interprofessional audiences with similar, high degrees of learner satisfaction to in-person offerings.

Background: There is a paucity of multicenter data describing the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on hospitalized pediatric oncology patients. Using a large, multicenter, Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) Discovery Viral Infection and Respiratory Illness University Study (VIRUS) database, we aimed at assessing outcomes of COVID-19 infection in this population. Method: This is a matched-cohort study involving children below 18 years of age hospitalized with COVID-19 between March 2020 and January 2021. Using the VIRUS; COVID-19 Registry database, children with oncologic diseases were compared with propensity score matched (age groups, sex, race, and ethnicity) cohort of children without oncologic diseases for the prevalence of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C), intensive care unit (ICU) admission, interventions, hospital, and ICU length of stay. Results: The number of children in the case and control groups was 45 and 180, respectively. ICU admission rate was similar in both groups ([47.7 vs 51.7%], P=0.63). The proportion of children requiring noninvasive and invasive mechanical ventilation, and its duration were similar between groups, same as hospital mortality. Interestingly, MIS-C was significantly lower in the oncology group compared with the control (2.4 vs 24.6%; P=0.0002). Conclusions: In this study using a multicenter VIRUS database, ICU admission rate, interventions, and outcomes of COVID-19 were similar in children with the oncologic disease compared with control patients. The incidence of MIS-C is lower in oncologic patients.

Abstract Background The criteria for the selection of COVID‐19 patients that could benefit most from ECMO organ support are yet to be defined. In this study, we evaluated the predictive performance of ECMO mortality predictive models in patients with COVID‐19. We also performed a cost–benefit analysis depending on the mortality predicted probability. We conducted a retrospective cohort study in COVID‐19 patients who received ECMO at two tertiary care hospitals between March 2020 to July 2021. Materials and Methods We evaluated the discrimination (C‐statistic), calibration (Cox calibration), and accuracy of the prediction of death due to severe ARDS in V‐V ECMO score (PRESERVE), the Respiratory Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Survival Score (RESP) score, and the PREdiction of Survival on ECMO Therapy‐Score (PRESET) score. In addition, we compared the RESP score with Plateau pressure instead of Peak pressure. Results We included a total of 36 patients, 29 (80%) of them male and with a median (IQR) APACHE of 10 (8–15). The PRESET score had the highest discrimination (AUROCs 0.81 [95%CI 0.67–0.94]) and calibration (calibration‐in‐the‐large 0.5 [95%CI −1.4 to 0.3]; calibration slope 2.2 [95%CI 0.7/3.7]). The RESP score with Plateau pressure had higher discrimination than the conventional RESP score. The cost per QALY in the USA, adjusted to life expectancy, was higher than USD 100 000 in patients older than 45 years with a PRESET > 10. Conclusion The PRESET score had the highest predictive performance and could help in the selection of patients that benefit most from this resource‐demanding and highly invasive organ support.