No abstract

No abstract

Introduction Patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) have high mortality rates during the acute infection and up to ten years thereafter. Recommendations from international CAP guidelines include macrolide-based treatment. However, there is no data on the long-term outcomes of this recommendation. Therefore, we aimed to determine the impact of macrolide-based therapy on long-term mortality in this population. Methods Registered patients in the MIMIC-IV database 16 years or older and admitted to the ICU due to CAP were included. Multivariate analysis, targeted maximum likelihood estimation (TMLE) to simulate a randomised controlled trial, and survival analyses were conducted to test the effect of macrolide-based treatment on mortality six-month (6 m) and twelve-month (12 m) after hospital admission. A sensitivity analysis was performed excluding patients with Pseudomonas aeruginosa or MRSA pneumonia to control for Healthcare-Associated Pneumonia (HCAP). Results 3775 patients were included, and 1154 were treated with a macrolide-based treatment. The non-macrolide-based group had worse long-term clinical outcomes, represented by 6 m [31.5 (363/1154) vs 39.5 (1035/2621), p < 0.001] and 12 m mortality [39.0 (450/1154) vs 45.7 (1198/2621), p < 0.001]. The main risk factors associated with long-term mortality were Charlson comorbidity index, SAPS II, septic shock, and respiratory failure. Macrolide-based treatment reduced the risk of dying at 6 m [HR (95% CI) 0.69 (0.60, 0.78), p < 0.001] and 12 m [0.72 (0.64, 0.81), p < 0.001]. After TMLE, the protective effect continued with an additive effect estimate of − 0.069. Conclusion Macrolide-based treatment reduced the hazard risk of long-term mortality by almost one-third. This effect remains after simulating an RCT with TMLE and the sensitivity analysis for the HCAP classification.

Background: Acute respiratory tract infections (ARTIs) are one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality in children under the age of five worldwide. Objectives: The objective of this research was to describe the main characteristics of hospitalized patients with ARTI caused by the rhinovirus/enterovirus (RV/EV) complex and the risk factors associated with severe infection. Methods: This was a retrospective descriptive study in patients from one month to 18-years-old who had been hospitalized for ARTI between October 2015 and December 2019 at Fundación Cardioinfantil in Bogotá, Colombia, and had had an RT-PCR viral panel during their hospitalization. Rhinovirus/enterovirus infection was characterized to identify factors associated with disease severity as compared to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). A multivariate analysis was performed, controlling for confounding factors, to identify groups at risk of developing associated acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Results: During the study period, 645 RT-PCRs were performed, with the two main etiological agents identified being RV/EV (n = 224) and RSV (n = 68). The median age of patients with the RV/EV complex was 27 months (IQR: 8 - 70), and seven months for those with RSV (IQR: 2 - 11). Severe RV/EV complex infections required more transfers to intensive care (47% vs. 11%), showed more viral coinfection (OR: 2.13, 95% CI: 1.42 - 4.64), and had less bacterial coinfection (OR: 0.55, 95% CI: 0.31 - 0.98) than RSV infections. The RV/EV group had a higher risk of developing ARDS (OR: 3.6, 95% CI: 1.07 - 12:18), especially in premature infants (P: 0.05; exp(B), 2.99; 95% CI = 1.01 - 8.82), those with heart disease (P: 0.047; exp(B), 2.99; 95% CI = 1.01 - 8.82), and those with inborn errors of metabolism (P: 0.032; exp(B), 5 - 01; 95% CI = 1.15 - 21.81). A total of 13 patients from both study groups died (4.5%), with no differences found between the groups (RV/EV 54% vs. RSV 46%; P = 0.3). Conclusions: Respiratory infection due to RV/EV in children can frequently be severe, requiring management with intensive care therapy. When compared to RSV, this complex is more frequently associated with the development of ARDS, especially in risk groups such as those with prematurity, heart disease, or inborn errors of metabolism.

BackgroundThe ROX index (Respiratory rate-OXygenation) has been described as a prediction tool to identify the need for invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) in community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) with acute hypoxaemic respiratory failure treated with high-flow nasal cannula in order to avoid delay of a necessary intubation. However, its use in predicting the need for ventilatory support in hospitalised patients with CAP has not been validated.MethodsThis is a retrospective cohort study including subjects with CAP treated in the general ward, emergency service or intensive care unit of a third-level centre in Cundinamarca, Colombia, between January 2001 and February 2020. The ROX index was estimated as the ratio of oxygen saturation/fraction of inspired oxygen to respiratory rate.ResultsA total of 895 patients were included, of whom 93 (10%) required IMV. The ROX index proved to be a good predictor, presenting an area under the curve of receiver operating characteristics (AUROC) of 0.733 (95% CI 0.671 to 0.795, p<0.001) when determined by pulse oximetry and an AUROC of 0.779 (95% CI 0.699 to 0.859, p<0.001) when estimated by arterial blood gas (ABG) parameters, with an intraclass correlation of 0.894. The estimated cut-off point was 14.8; a score less than 14.8 indicates high risk of requiring IMV.ConclusionThe ROX index is a good predictor of IMV in hospitalised patients with CAP. It presents good performance when calculated through pulse oximetry and can replace the one calculated by ABG.