DATA SOURCES: MEDLINE, EMBASE and CENTRAL were systematically searched from their inception until December 2018.
REVIEW METHODS: All randomised clinical trials were included.
RESULTS: Sixteen trials (1634 patients) were included in this meta-analysis. Incidence of delirium was not significantly lower in patients who received melatonin, with an odd ratio, OR (95%Cl) of 0.55 (0.24-1.26); ρ = 0.16, certainty of evidence = low, trial sequential analysis = inconclusive. However, patients who randomised to melatonin had a significantly shorter length of stay in intensive care units, with a mean difference, MD (95%CI) of -1.84 days (-2.46, -1.21); ρ
METHODS: All the patients with end-stage heart failure (ESHF) and implanted LVAD who underwent LSG from2013 to January 2017 were studied.
RESULTS: Seven patients with end stage heart failure (ESHF) and implanted LVAD were included. The median age and median preoperative BMI were 39 years (range: 26-62) and 43.6 kg/m2 (range 36.7-56.7), respectively. The median interval between LVAD implantation and LSG was 38 months (range 15-48). The median length of hospital stay was 9 days (rang: 6-23) out of which 4 patients had planned postoperative ICU admission. Thirty-day complications were noted in 5 patients (3 major and 2 minor) without any perioperative mortality. The median duration of follow-up was 24 months (range 2-30). At the last available follow-up, the median BMI, %EWL, and %TWL were 37 kg/m2, 47%, and 16%, respectively. The median LVEF before LSG and at the last follow-up point (before heart transplant) was 19% (range 15-20) and 22% (range, 16-35), respectively. In addition, the median NYHA class improved from 3 to 2 after LSG. Three patients underwent successful heart transplantations.
CONCLUSION: Patients with morbid obesity, ESHF, and implanted LVAD constitute a high-risk cohort. Our results with 7 patients and result from other studies (19 patients) suggested that bariatric surgery may be a reasonable option for LVAD patients with severe obesity. Bariatric surgery appears to provide significant weight loss in these patients and may improve candidacy for heart transplantation.
OBJECTIVE: The objectives of this paper are to gain a better understanding of the key presenting symptoms of COVID-19 in HCWs in a district specialist hospital, to establish the proportion of symptomatic COVID-19 cases among HCWs and its severity and to determine the time taken from onset of symptoms or perceived exposure to diagnostic testing.
METHODOLOGY: This is a retrospective descriptive analysis of clinical characteristics of subjects infected with COVID-19 among HCW in HTI. Their demography and clinical characteristics were recorded.
RESULTS: There were 47 HCW in HTI who tested positive for COVID-19. The mean age of the patients was 37.5 years old. 7 patients (15.2%) had at least more than one comorbidity. Average duration of time from perceived close contact to onset of symptom was 4.5 days, while the mean duration of time from symptoms to first positive RT-PCR result was 3.4 days. Six patients (13.0%) were asymptomatic throughout, whereas 40 (87.0%) had at least one symptom prior to hospitalization. The most commonly reported symptoms were fever (65.2%), sore throat (39.1%) and cough (37.0%). In terms of severity of symptoms, the majority of patients experienced mild symptoms (Group 2, 52.2%). Two patients (4.3%) with multiple comorbidities had severe disease requiring ICU admission and mechanical ventilation. There were no mortalities, and the longest staying patient was hospitalized for 18 days. The high rates of infectivity among HCW in HTI can be attributed to working in close proximity while in the asymptomatic incubation phase, while no HCW directly involved in the care of COVID-19 positive patients were tested positive.
CONCLUSION: We report that HCW share similar clinical characteristics of COVID-19 infection as those of non HCW patients in earlier studies. The infection can spread rapidly within healthcare settings via close contacts among infected HCWs. As such, we advocate distancing when working and usage of personal protective equipment when treating patients with respiratory illness to reduce transmission of COVID-19.
METHODS: A cost and outcome study was conducted using a retrospective cohort database from four tertiary hospitals. All patients with high-risk surgeries visiting the hospitals from 2011 to 2017 were included. Outcomes included major postsurgical complications, length of stay (LOS), in-hospital death, and total healthcare costs. Multivariate regression analyses were performed to identify risk factors of postsurgical outcomes.
RESULTS: A total of 14,930 patients were identified with an average age of 57.7 ± 17.0 years and 34.9% being male. Gastrointestinal (GI) procedures were the most common high-risk procedures, accounting for 54.9% of the patients, followed by cardiovascular (CV) procedures (25.2%). Approximately 27.2% of the patients experienced major postsurgical complications. The top three complications were respiratory failure (14.0%), renal failure (3.5%), and myocardial infarction (3.4%). In-hospital death was 10.0%. The median LOS was 9 days. The median total costs of all included patients were 2,592 US$(IQR: 1,399-6,168 US$). The patients, who received high-risk GI surgeries and experienced major complications, had significantly increased risk of in-hospital death (OR: 4.53; 95%CI: 3.81-5.38), longer LOS (6.53 days; 95%CI: 2.60-10.46 days) and higher median total costs (2,465 US$; 95%CI: 1,945-2,984 US$), compared to those without major complications. Besides, the patients, who underwent high-risk CV surgeries and developed major complications, resulted in significantly elevated risk of in-hospital death (OR: 2.22; 95%CI: 1.74-2.84) and increased median total costs (2,719 US$; 95%CI: 2,129-3,310 US$), compared to those without major complications.
CONCLUSIONS: Postsurgical complications are a serious problem in Thailand, as they are associated with worsening mortality risk, LOS, and healthcare costs. Clinicians should develop interventions to prevent or effectively treat postsurgical complications to mitigate such burdens.
DESIGN: Retrospective cohort analysis of children who underwent a systemic-to-pulmonary shunt after excluding those who had it for Norwood or Damus-Kaye-Stansel procedure.
SETTING: The Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
PATIENTS: From 2008 to 2015, 201 children who had a systemic-to-pulmonary shunt were included.
INTERVENTIONS: Major adverse event is defined as one or more of cardiac arrest, chest reopening, or requirement for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Study outcome is a "composite poor outcome," defined as one or more of acute kidney injury, necrotizing enterocolitis, brain injury, or in-hospital mortality.
MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Median (interquartile range) age was 12 days (6-38 d) and median (interquartile range) time to major adverse event was 5.5 hours (2-17 hr) after admission. Overall, 36 (18%) experienced a major adverse event, and reasons were over-shunting (n = 17), blocked shunt (n = 13), or other (n = 6). Fifteen (88%) in over-shunting group suffered a cardiac arrest compared with two (15%) in the blocked shunt group (p < 0.001). The composite poor outcome was seen in 15 (88%) in over-shunting group, four (31%) in the blocked shunt group, and 56 (34%) in those who did not experience a major adverse event (p < 0.001). By multivariable analysis, predictors for composite poor outcome were major adverse event due to over-shunting (no major adverse event-reference; over-shunting odds ratio, 18.60; 95% CI, 3.87-89.4 and shunt-block odds ratio, 1.57; 95% CI, 0.46-5.35), single ventricle physiology (odds ratio, 4.70; 95% CI, 2.34-9.45), and gestation (odds ratio, 0.84/wk increase; 95% CI, 0.74-0.96).
CONCLUSIONS: Infants who suffer major adverse event due to over-shunting experience considerably poorer outcomes than those who experience events due to shunt block. A mainly hypoxic event with maintenance of systemic perfusion (as often seen in a blocked shunt) is less likely to result in poorer outcomes than those after a hypoxic-ischemic event (commonly seen in over-shunting).
DESIGN: Double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter randomized trial.
SETTING: Tertiary care hospitals.
INTERVENTIONS: Cardiac surgery patients (n = 1,000) with postoperative myocardial dysfunction (defined as patients with intraaortic balloon pump and/or high-dose standard inotropic support) will be randomized to receive a continuous infusion of either levosimendan (0.05-0.2 μg/[kg min]) or placebo for 24-48 hours.
MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The primary end point will be 30-day mortality. Secondary end points will be mortality at 1 year, time on mechanical ventilation, acute kidney injury, decision to stop the study drug due to adverse events or to start open-label levosimendan, and length of intensive care unit and hospital stay. We will test the hypothesis that levosimendan reduces 30-day mortality in cardiac surgery patients with postoperative myocardial dysfunction.
CONCLUSIONS: This trial is planned to determine whether levosimendan could improve survival in patients with postoperative low cardiac output syndrome. The results of this double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized trial may provide important insights into the management of low cardiac output in cardiac surgery.