In patients with septic shock, low-dose hydrocortisone was associated with a lower risk of developing AF during the acute phase.

Our study suggests that maintaining MV during CPB for cardiac surgery decreases postoperative immune dysfunction and could be an interesting strategy to diminish the occurrence of postoperative nosocomial infection without hampering the surgical procedure. However, these findings have to be confirmed in a clinical trial using the incidence of nosocomial infection as an endpoint.

words)Objective: To evaluate the incidence and consequences of preoperative iron deficiency in elective cardiac surgery.Design: A prospective observational study. Setting:The cardiac surgery unit of a university hospital, from November 2016 to February 2017.Participants: All patients presenting for elective cardiac surgery during the study period, with the exclusion of non-cardiac thoracic surgeries, surgeries of the descending aorta, endovascular procedures, and patients affected by an iron-metabolism disease.Intervention: Transferrin saturation and serum ferritin levels were systematically assessed before surgery and the care of patients maintained as usual. Measurements and Main Results:Routine analyses, clinical data, and the number of blood transfusions were recorded during the hospital stay. Among the 272 patients included, 31% had preoperative iron deficiency, and 13% were anemic. Patients with iron deficiency had significantly lower hemoglobin levels throughout the hospital stay and received blood transfusions more frequently during surgical procedures (31% vs. 19%, p = 0.0361). Detailed analysis showed that patients with iron deficiency received more red blood cell units. There were no differences in postoperative bleeding, morbidity, or mortality. Conclusions:Iron deficiency appears to be related to lower hemoglobin levels and more frequent transfusion in elective cardiac surgery. Assessing iron status preoperatively and correcting any iron deficiencies should be one of the numerous actions involved in patient blood management for such surgeries, with the aim of reducing morbidity due to both anemia and transfusion. * Mean +/-standard deviation • Number of patients (percentage) Redux: first reoperation after one cardiac surgery. Tridux: second reoperation. CPB: cardiopulmonary bypass.

Various clinical presentations of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID‐19) have been described, including post‐infectious acute and fulminant myocarditis. Here, we describe the case of a young patient admitted for COVID‐19‐associated post‐infectious fulminant myocarditis. Despite optimal pharmacologic management, haemodynamic status worsened requiring support by veno‐arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Emergent heart transplantation was required at Day 11 given the absence of cardiac function improvement. The diagnosis of post‐infectious COVID‐19‐associated myocarditis was made from both pathologic examination of the explanted heart and positive SARS‐CoV‐2 serology.