Because patients who fail a trial of weaning from mechanical ventilation experience a marked increase in respiratory load, we hypothesized that these patients develop diaphragmatic fatigue. Accordingly, we measured twitch transdiaphragmatic pressure using phrenic nerve stimulation in 11 weaning failure and 8 weaning success patients. Measurements were made before and 30 minutes after spontaneous breathing trials that lasted up to 60 minutes. Twitch transdiaphragmatic pressure was 8.9 +/- 2.2 cm H2O before the trials and 9.4 +/- 2.4 cm H2O after their completion in the weaning failure patients (p = 0.17); the corresponding values in the weaning success patients were 10.3 +/- 1.5 and 11.2 +/- 1.8 cm H2O (p = 0.18). Despite greater load (p = 0.04) and diaphragmatic effort (p = 0.01), the weaning failure patients did not develop low-frequency fatigue probably because of greater recruitment of rib cage and expiratory muscles (p = 0.004) and because clinical signs of distress mandating the reinstitution of mechanical ventilation arose before the development of fatigue. Twitch pressure revealed considerable diaphragmatic weakness in many weaning failure patients. In conclusion, in contrast to our hypothesis, weaning failure was not accompanied by low-frequency fatigue of the diaphragm, although many weaning failure patients displayed diaphragmatic weakness.

(COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), emerged in December 2019. As of Nov. 13, 2020, millions of infections have occurred, and COVID-19 has claimed more than 1.3 million lives, with an overall mortality rate of about 3% and mortality of up to 60% in the critically ill. 1-6 Limited information is available to describe the outcomes of patients admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) in Canada. The Jewish General Hospital was the first designated pandemic centre for adults in Montréal, Canada, the epicentre of COVID-19 in Canada during the first wave of the pandemic. 7 The first positive case of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the province of Quebec was diagnosed on Feb. 27, 2020. The Jewish General Hospital admitted Quebec's first patient with COVID-19 to the ICU on Mar. 5. As of May 27, 2020, the hospital had admitted 17% of all ICU patients with COVID-19 in the city. 8 Severe COVID-19 pneumonia is associated with progressive dyspnea, increasing hypoxemia and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), often occurring after 7-10 days of symptom onset, and requires ICU admission

Non-variceal upper-gastrointestinal bleeding (NVUGIB) refractory to therapeutic endoscopy is a challenging situation. The following details a novel use for the Sengstaken-Blakemore tube in a case of severe ulcerative esophagitis after failure of conventional medical and endoscopic treatment. A 77-year-old man with a history of peptic ulcer disease developed massive hematemesis during a hospital admission. Initial gastroscopy revealed an adherent blood clot occupying the distal esophagus, extending to the gastric cardia and proximal fundus. Epinephrine was injected into and surrounding the clot; however, following the endoscopy the patient was hemodynamically unstable, requiring aggressive resuscitation. Repeat gastroscopy, following saline lavage, revealed active bleeding within severely ulcerated esophageal mucosa, immediately proximal to the gastro-esophageal (GE) junction. Despite apparent hemostasis following injection of epinephrine and electrocautery, the patient displayed clinical signs of continued bleeding. Furthermore, surgical and radiological interventions were precluded by the patient's hemodynamic instability. In an attempt to tamponade blood supply to the GE junction, a Sengstaken-Blakemore tube was inserted and placed under tension. Successful hemostasis was subsequently achieved and the patient remained stable. This is the first case to describe use of a Sengstaken-Blakemore tube in severe ulcerative esophagitis refractory to standard endoscopic management.

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