Clinical variables associated with prolonged survival after surgery for LM in CRC patients include prolonged disease-free interval between primary tumor and metastatic spread, normal prethoracotomy carcinoembryonic antigen, absence of thoracic node involvement, and a single pulmonary lesion.

BackgroundHypoparathyroidism, the most common complication after thyroid surgery, leads to hypocalcaemia and significant medical problems. An RCT was undertaken to determine whether intraoperative parathyroid gland angiography with indocyanine green (ICG) could predict postoperative hypoparathyroidism, and obviate the need for systematic blood tests and oral calcium supplementation.MethodsBetween September 2014 and February 2016, patients who had at least one well perfused parathyroid gland on ICG angiography were randomized to receive standard follow‐up (measurement of calcium and parathyroid hormone (PTH) on postoperative day (POD) 1 and systematic supplementation with calcium and vitamin D; control group) or no supplementation and no blood test on POD 1 (intervention group). In all patients, calcium and PTH levels were measured 10–15 days after thyroidectomy. The primary endpoint was hypocalcaemia on POD 10–15.ResultsA total of 196 patients underwent ICG angiography during thyroid surgery, of whom 146 had at least one well perfused parathyroid gland on ICG angiography and were randomized. None of these patients presented with hypoparathyroidism, including those who did not receive calcium supplementation. The intervention group was statistically non‐inferior to the control group (exact 95 per cent c.i. of the difference in proportion of patients with hypocalcaemia –0·053 to 0·053; P = 0·012). Eleven of the 50 excluded patients, in whom no well perfused parathyroid gland could be identified by angiography, presented with hypoparathyroidism on POD 1, and six on POD 10–15, which was significantly different from the findings in randomized patients (P = 0·007).ConclusionICG angiography reliably predicts the vascularization of the parathyroid glands and obviates the need for postoperative measurement of calcium and PTH, and supplementation with calcium in patients with at least one well perfused parathyroid gland. Registration number: NCT02249780 (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov).

IntroductionThe aim of the study was to assess whether adults admitted to hospitals with both Intensive Care Units (ICU) and Intermediate Care Units (IMCU) have lower in-hospital mortality than those admitted to ICUs without an IMCU.MethodsAn observational multinational cohort study performed on patients admitted to participating ICUs during a four-week period. IMCU was defined as any physically and administratively independent unit open 24 hours a day, seven days a week providing a level of care lower than an ICU but higher than a ward. Characteristics of hospitals, ICUs and patients admitted to study ICUs were recorded. The main outcome was all-cause in-hospital mortality until hospital discharge (censored at 90 days).ResultsOne hundred and sixty-seven ICUs from 17 European countries enrolled 5,834 patients. Overall, 1,113 (19.1%) patients died in the ICU and 1,397 died in hospital, with a total of 1,397 (23.9%) deaths. The illness severity was higher for patients in ICUs with an IMCU (median Simplified Acute Physiology Score (SAPS) II: 37) than for patients in ICUs without an IMCU (median SAPS II: 29, P <0.001). After adjustment for patient characteristics at admission such as illness severity, and ICU and hospital characteristics, the odds ratio of mortality was 0.63 (95% CI 0.45 to 0.88, P = 0.007) in favour of the presence of IMCU. The protective effect of the IMCU was absent in patients who were admitted for basic observation, for example, after surgery (odds ratio 1.15, 95% CI 0.65 to 2.03, P = 0.630) but was strong in patients admitted to an ICU for other reasons (odds ratio 0.54, 95% CI 0.37 to 0.80, P = 0.002).ConclusionsThe presence of an IMCU in the hospital is associated with significantly reduced adjusted hospital mortality for adults admitted to the ICU. This effect is relevant for the patients requiring full intensive treatment.Trial registrationClinicaltrials.gov NCT01422070. Registered 19 August 2011.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13054-014-0551-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

IntroductionSeverity assessment and site-of-care decisions for patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) are pivotal for patients' safety and adequate allocation of resources. Late admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) has been associated with increased mortality in CAP. We aimed to review and meta-analyze systematically the performance of clinical prediction rules to identify CAP patients requiring ICU admission or intensive treatment.MethodsWe systematically searched Medline, Embase, and the Cochrane Controlled Trials registry for clinical trials evaluating the performance of prognostic rules to predict the need for ICU admission, intensive treatment, or the occurrence of early mortality in patients with CAP.ResultsSufficient data were available to perform a meta-analysis on eight scores: PSI, CURB-65, CRB-65, CURB, ATS 2001, ATS/IDSA 2007, SCAP score, and SMART-COP. The estimated AUC of PSI and CURB-65 scores to predict ICU admission was 0.69. Among scores proposed for prediction of ICU admission, ATS-2001 and ATS/IDSA 2007 scores had better operative characteristics, with a sensitivity of 70% (CI, 61 to 77) and 84% (48 to 97) and a specificity of 90% (CI, 82 to 95) and 78% (46 to 93), but their clinical utility is limited by the use of major criteria.ATS/IDSA 2007 minor criteria have good specificity (91% CI, 84 to 95) and moderate sensitivity (57% CI, 46 to 68). SMART-COP and SCAP score have good sensitivity (79% CI, 69 to 97, and 94% CI, 88 to 97) and moderate specificity (64% CI, 30 to 66, and 46% CI, 27 to 66). Major differences in populations, prognostic factor measurement, and outcome definition limit comparison. Our analysis also highlights a high degree of heterogeneity among the studies.ConclusionsNew severity scores for predicting the need for ICU or intensive treatment in patients with CAP, such as ATS/IDSA 2007 minor criteria, SCAP score, and SMART-COP, have better discriminative performances compared with PSI and CURB-65. High negative predictive value is the most consistent finding among the different prediction rules. These rules should be considered an aid to clinical judgment to guide ICU admission in CAP patients.