Changes in mean arterial pressure and arterial blood lactate within the first 24 h of treatment are strong prognostic indicators of short-term survival in patients with septic shock. After 24 h of treatment, maintenance of a mean blood pressure equal to or greater than 85 mmHg correlates with survival at day 10. Data suggest that early reductions in both cardiac function and vascular tone play a determining role in the hypotension observed in fatalities. Persistence of hyperlactatemia in hypotensive patients bodes particularly ill. Blood pressure and lactate level are simple bedside parameters that can enable the clinician to identify patients with a high risk of mortality.

Despite the absence of recommendation for NIV use in case of drowning-related ARF, this technique was often used with safety and efficacy. The decision for NIV use was mainly based on the preserved or improved neurological status.

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Brugada syndrome is a well-known form of idiopathic ventricular fibrillation (VF). Few data suggest that this arrhythmia may be triggered by ventricular premature beats (VPBs), and an association with other arrhythmia such as monomorphic ventricular tachycardia (VT) or supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) has been reported. In a highly symptomatic 18-year-old-male patient with this syndrome, frequent episodes of VF, fast polymorphic VT, and fast monomorphic sustained regular tachycardia were observed. The tachycardia episodes were classified as VT or VF and as a consequence received appropriate therapies with the implanted cardioverter defibrillator (ICD). Precipitating VPBs that were stored in the ICD memory and on the electrocardiogram (ECG) exhibited the same morphology as frequent isolated VPBs. During the electrophysiological study, right and left atrial tachycardia (AT) with one-to-one atrioventricular conduction were also induced and successfully ablated. VF was ablated using the same noncontact mapping (NCM) system triggering VPBs from right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT).

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